Getting Soft
by Just 2 Dream of You
Summary: Somehow Shizuru comes across a very sick Hiei and decides to take him in. Probably not the smartest thing she's ever done. Now she's got a sick pyro sneezing all over her living room. And it's not even happy hour...
1. Fire and Water Don't Mix

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH  
Continuity: English Version Anime

Cover Drawn By: GoodEnoughTheOpenDoor

"Talking"

'_Thoughts_'

* * *

Getting Soft

Chapter One: Fire and Water Don't Mix

X -x-x-x-x- X

He growled at his stupidity. It had been over a year since he had tried to give Yukina's tear gem back and he still couldn't tell her the truth. He hadn't seen her since that moment and had to accept simply stalking her from the trees at the old hag's temple. A conversation between his sister and that irksome ferry woman about Yukina's feelings for Kuwabara made him stay longer than planned. Heaven help that fool if his sweet, innocent sister had been corrupted by him in any fashion. No, scratch that.

Heaven would be far from him.

He listened intently as to what the two were talking about. The blue haired idiot kept prodding Yukina for answers and the young ice-maiden seemed to blush and stutter, not wanting to talk about it. '_Good, just ignore her. She'll eventually tire out.'_

Much to his chagrin, she did not. She hadn't lost her sick, bubbly energy in the passing years and was just as annoying as ever. He was about to handle this situation himself - show up, threaten her and leave, simple enough (it usually worked, anyway) - but then Yukina relented and said something that made his un-beating heart skip.

"Perhaps...I _do_ love him...somewhat..."

The ferry girl made a nauseating noise in a high pitch and Hiei was about to go find that oaf and slit his throat, both for making Yukina _love_ him and for the sound that came out of the reaper's mouth.

"Oh, Yukina! This is wonderful!" Botan clapped with a huge grin on her face. "I think you two are perfect for each other!

"But..." Yukina paused and looked down at her tea. "I love you too." Botan deadpanned and the figure in the tree almost fell to the ground.

"I love you and Kazuma and Genkai and Yusuke and Keiko - all of you, like family, even Mr. Hiei."

Said fire apparition stiffened. What reason would she have to love _him_? In her eyes he had done nothing but disappoint her in the effort to find her brother. They hadn't had any conversations or bonded in any way. The old bag's words about Yukina not being the child he thought she was rang in his ears and he growled. He shook it off and continued to listen.

Botan was stuttering, trying to explain to Yukina the difference between family love and romantic love and was getting nowhere.

"Are you saying I shouldn't love Kazuma like family?" Yukina asked, her face showing guilt and sadness.

Okay, that was it. Ferry girl or not, she was making Yukina feel bad. Time to die.

A tremendous thunderclap echoed in the area causing both girls to jump, Botan more so as she grabbed Yukina and hit the floor. "Wah! My goodness, where did _that_ come from?"

Yukina sighed as Botan's weight was removed off of her. "I don't know. Perhaps we weren't paying attention to the weather..."

Indeed. Not only had the girls not been paying attention, but neither had he. He looked at the sky and it was as dark as night in some areas, the clouds moving towards the temple.

He growled and cursed at his idiocy. The whole place stunk of rain - how did he not see this coming? He shook his head and decided that the deaths of the ferry woman and the fool would have to wait.

Fire and water don't mix.

He disappeared just as huge raindrops began to fall. He cursed again as the water instantly soaked his hair, down his neck and into his cloak. In just a matter of a few minutes he was completely wet, the rain unrelenting and the heaviest he had seen in a while. His bandanna became heavy with the water and he found it slowly slipping down his face. He figured he would just have to make due with anyone seeing him without it and tore it off. That wasn't the smartest bet seeing as how the rain was blowing against him and the water was now hitting his exposed Jagan. He snarled in anger and had no choice but to shut his third eye, which now meant he had no aid in his sense of direction.

Great, just great.

He stopped at what these humans called a park and stood under a tree. He was soaked to the bone with this chilling water. He tried to warm himself up with his energy, but it wasn't working so well. Every time he did, it would prove useless as more rain continued to fall, even between the branches of the tree. It wasn't as bad as out in the open, but it was still bad. He sighed and wiped the matted hair from his forehead. He would just have to wait until the rain stopped, then dry off and go back to Demon World. Surely, the rain couldn't go on much longer. Right?

* * *

"Wow..." She breathed out, smoke hitting the window. "Haven't seen it pour like this in a while. Weird." She put out her cigarette and shrugged. She opened the window to breathe in the fresh air that rain always created. It was cold and crisp, a nice feeling, but she wouldn't want to be out in something like this. She stood there and continued to watch the rain and breathe it in. As if on cue, the rain slowed down and stopped. "Figures. Oh, well. At least now I can go to the store." She hated driving in the rain - it was raining that night when it happened and she figured it would be best not to tempt fate. She grabbed her keys and headed for the door.

She had only made it a block in her car when she slammed on the breaks. Thank goodness no one was behind her or she'd be screwed. She looked around and blinked a few times.

She knew that energy. But what was he doing here? She thought about it and giggled. "Oh, Yukina - duh." But simply sensing him wasn't the reason she reacted so harshly. The energy itself was erratic, troubled...weak. Something was wrong and the premonition was getting stronger with each passing second. She could feel the energy getting lower and lower. "Ah, crap." She pulled the car over to where she sensed him, a local park it would seem, and parked in the street. "Hopefully, I don't get a ticket for this..." It started sprinkling a little, so she grabbed her green umbrella and let her senses guide her to where he was.

She easily found him and gasped at what she found. He was slumped at the base of a tree completely passed out and soaked with rain-water. His hair was down and matted to his head and his clothes stuck to him, showing off just how skinny he truly was. She knelt down to him and inspected his face. His cheeks and nose were a faint pink color and his breathing was ragged. He was out, no doubt, and she sighed heavily. "Oh, dammit, kid. What did you do?" She closed her umbrella and hooked it to her hand, bending down to grab him. She lifted him up under his arms and, not surprisingly enough, he was very light. She easily carried - more like dragged - him to the car and opened the back door. His boots were covered in mud and she cursed. "I just got this thing cleaned..." She settled him down on the back seat and tried her best to make it a position that was comfortable. He was on his left side facing the front of the car, and as soon as his body felt the slightly warmer temperature inside, it reacted by shivering. She frowned and sighed again. Shutting the door, she made her way to the driver's side.

Looks like the groceries were gonna have to wait.

~To Be Continued


	2. The Blowing Technique

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH  
Continuity: English Version Anime

Cover Drawn By: GoodEnoughTheOpenDoor

"Talking"

'_Thoughts_'

* * *

Getting Soft

Chapter Two: The Blowing Technique

X -x-x-x-x- X

She drove as fast as she could without breaking any laws, after all, this wasn't an emergency. Her eyes peered over to the rear-view mirror, seeing the little fella shivering violently in the back-seat. She bit her bottom lip and increased her speed.

Her thoughts drifted. '_What kind of stupid guy stays out in the rain?_' Thinking about it, she realized that out of the whole group, Hiei wasn't around as much and probably wasn't as close to them all. If he did get caught out in the rain, did he have anywhere to go? Apparently not.

She made a left turn down to her street. What about Kurama? Why didn't he seek him out? They were friends, right? She sighed as she pulled into the parking lot, shutting the car off.

In the end, it didn't matter. He was now in her car and she had made the decision to help him. No going back on it now.

She got out and walked around to the back, opening the door. The cold air penetrated the interior and he reacted by shivering even more, a slight moan escaping him. Her heart clinched and she groaned as she grabbed his muddy boots, pulling him forward, her hands getting covered in filth. His body was now half-way out of the vehicle, and she reached under his arms, lifting him up and on her shoulder. She kicked the door shut and made her way to the front entrance. Unfortunately, her apartment wasn't on the first floor, so that meant one thing;

Stairs.

She groaned at her foolishness for not planning this out better. It was only one flight, and even though he was light for a fully grown man, he was still about five feet tall and maybe one hundred pounds. That's big and heavy when you're trying to carry it up twenty stairs. She backed up and thought it better this way; Pull him by the shoulders backwards up the stairs. Sure, his ankles might get bruised bumping each stair - but hey, he could handle it.

So, that's what she did. It started easier than she thought it would be, but that proved false after about five steps. This was killer on her back!

The older lady unlocking her door turned and paused when she heard groaning and thumping on the stairs. After a minute, she saw a young lady pulling a young man, who appeared to be unconscious, backwards up the stairs. As soon as the girl made it to the top, she panted for a bit and hoisted the boy up under her arms, mumbling a, "You better be grateful for this, you stupid demon..."

Shizuru stopped dead when she noticed Mrs. Tokugawa staring at her. The old woman blinked a few times and laughed. "Oh, don't worry, Miss. My husband became a real demon when he would drink too!" She continued laughing as she entered her apartment, shutting the door and Shizuru blew some bangs out of her eyes.

"Great, now she thinks I got a loser boyfriend. What more could go right?" She carried Hiei over to her door and brought out her keys. Suddenly, Hiei twitched and lurched forward. "Oh, God - you weren't really drinking, were you? I'll throw you down those stairs if you puke on me, kid!"

Instead he erupted into a huge coughing fit, making Shizuru's whole body shake from the force. She didn't know what to do and just stood there, listening to his raspy hacks. She turned and yet another person was staring at her, a young teenage boy, it seemed. She chuckled nervously and stuck the key in the door, unlocking it. She kicked the door open and went inside, shutting it with her foot, not looking at the gawking teen. "That's two now that think I'm sleeping with you. Can we go for three?"

Hiei had stopped coughing and was now breathing heavily, his movements vibrating through her body. She swallowed and made her way to the recliner chair. "You better not be contagious..." She accidentally threw him down on the chair and collapsed on the couch near-by. "Now my chair is ruined...Oh, well...it's broken anyway..." She sat for a few seconds and let her eyes drift to the still unconscious swordsman in her chair. He was still wet, still breathing raggedly, and now his nose was red. His mouth was open to breathe and she could only assume he had a stuffy nose.

For a fleeting second, she thought he looked cute.

"Aw, hell no." She stood up and sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Well...I gotta get you outta those wet clothes..." She walked over to him and decided that those shoes _had_ to go. She grimaced and pulled them off, making a face as she went back to the front door and sat them outside it. "They already think I'm doing you, so whatever..."

She shut the door and went back to him, pausing as she regarded what was on his feet. It wasn't socks, but bandages. She raised an eyebrow. "What, they don't have Hanes in Demon World?" She chuckled to herself and began undoing the fabric covering his feet. They started above the ankle and she had to roll up his wet pant-leg to reach it. She began unraveling it and after a minute, she got a good rhythm, reaching the middle of his foot. Her fingers graced his skin there and his foot twitched back rather forcefully. She looked up, seeing he was still out, and couldn't help but grin. "Ticklish. I'll note that in my log." She kept going and soon his foot was bare. She half expected long unruly nails and gunk like no human could posses, but surprisingly, his nails were trimmed and his feet were clean. "Metro too, huh?"

She did the same to the other foot and in a few minutes, had two bare feet in front of her. She rubbed her neck and shook her head. "Oh, my God. Those have to be the smallest feet I've ever seen. Ya know what they say..." She laughed to herself and sat back on her knees. Okay, the shoes and "socks" were off, now she just had to get the coat off. Then his shirt and pants.

She blinked.

"I haven't really thought this out, have I?" She sighed heavily again and steadied herself as she stood. First, that wet coat had to go. She propped him up over her shoulder and began removing it. It was so heavily drenched with rain, and she shivered at how cold it was. She threw the stupid thing off to the side and laid him back down on the chair. She then realized he was not wearing a shirt underneath. "One less thing for me to worry about..." But now came the big one; the pants, and the question; was he wearing anything under _those_?

'_He definitely seems like the commando type_...' She mused. She sat back down on her knees and began undoing his belts. There were four of them and when she reached the second one, she suddenly felt like an ice-cold knife had been stabbed into her heart. She gulped and knew what the feeling was, but she couldn't stop herself from looking up.

His blood red orbs were boring into hers.

She froze and for a few seconds, they stared. He inhaled to speak and she prepared herself for the onslaught of insults he was about to hurl her way.

Instead he sharply turned his head, putting a hand up to his face, harshly stifling a sneeze. "_Hih-plmp!_" Her eyebrows shot up and before she could react, his face was back to her glaring. "What the _hell_ are you doing?"

"I'm, uh..." She found herself at a loss for words, which didn't happen often. Then she grinned, her confidence back as quickly as it had gone. "Well, I found you in the park, and you were out cold, so I thought I'd viciously molest you." His eyes narrowed. "That's what it looks like, right?"

He growled at her. "Why did you bring me here?"

"It's obvious you're not feeling well. It's cold and raining. I was trying to help."

"By getting me naked?" He gestured to his bare chest and she sighed, plopping further back onto her knees.

"Your clothes are soaked and freezing. If you wanna put it back on, be my guest." She grabbed the cloak and threw it on his bare feet, the coldness of it bringing an undignified noise out of the fire apparition. "See, told ya."

"You - ! You - !" He stammered and she backed up a bit.

"Please, don't spill my blood all over the carpet - I just had a steamer in here."

He composed himself and let out a soft growl. "I didn't ask for your help, and I don't need it." His body seemed to tremble at his own words, and she stood up with a huff.

"Okay, then. Let's go over it, shall we? You're wet and cold and..." She paused as he let out another round of coughing. "And sick." He stopped and glared at her as if to say no. "I'm wrong? You hack like that all the time? I didn't know you smoked, dude." He sighed and remained silent. "Cold, wet and sick. You're telling me you're okay with that?"

He looked up at her. "It's not like I can do anything about it." He simply stated.

"Uh, yeah, you can. You can let your clothes dry and stay somewhere warm for the night."

He frowned. "I'm _not_ staying here."

She crossed her arms at him. "Oh? Okay. Happy travels, then. Oh, by the way - it's raining again." He looked over to the front window and, sure enough, it was pouring. "I checked the weather this morning and it said it would rain all day."

His brows furrowed. "How can you _check_ the weather?"

She blinked and grabbed the television remote, turning it on. It was on the weather channel and the report for the week was on. "This tells us the weather. A guy called a meteorologist comes on and tells us what's going to happen."

He studied the object in front of him. There were multiple colors of green, yellow, and red moving across a void of lines. "Is he a psychic?"

She would have laughed at anyone else asking that question, but as she looked at Hiei's serious face, she knew me meant it. "No...he uses computers to track the weather for him."

He scoffed. "Pfft, machines."

She shook her head and walked up to the T.V.. "See that?" She pointed to a line. "This is where we are and this radar shows that we've got some serious storms headed our way. Red means bad."

Hiei raised an eyebrow. "How bad?"

She shrugged. "Rain, lightening, wind..."

"Those aren't bad." He stated.

"Says the guy who got sick out in it."

"I'm not - " He lurched forward, stifling again in his lap.

"Yeah. Okay." She turned off the T.V. and sighed. "The way I see it, you got two choices. Stay here and get warm or go out and get worse. Your call." A small thunder rumble finished her comment and Hiei sat back in the chair.

"Fine. But only until it stops. As soon as it does, I'm gone." She narrowed her eyes at him. The way he spoke suggested _he_ was the one doing the favor for _**her**_.

"Fine. You need to get out of those clothes first, and that chair is soaked too. I'll be right back." She left the room and Hiei was alone with his thoughts.

What in the name of whatever god she worshiped did she think she was doing? Didn't she know who he was - _what_ he was? She was either really forgetful or just as stupid as her brother. That's when it dawned on him.

She came back out carrying some sort of clothing and he stood up to face her. "I'm not staying if your fool of a brother is here."

She "tsked" and threw the clothes on the floor. "Kazuma's at college." Hiei looked as if he didn't understand and she rolled her eyes. "It's a school that you stay at. He only visits on _special occasions_."

He nodded and bent down to pick up the clothes. "What are these?" He asked.

"Dry, that's what." She picked up his cloak and walked back out, letting him remove his pants. What she had given him was, what these humans called, a "tee shirt" - white - and gray pants of some kind. He slipped on the shirt and pulled on the pants, feeling very tired all of a sudden and having to sit on the couch. The pants were way too big and the shirt hung loose on him. She came back in and he glared.

"Whose clothes are these?"

"Mine, and they're too big, right? Here, I can fix it." She bent down and began rolling up the pant legs, which were dragging on the ground. "Stand up so I can tie it." He narrowed an eye at her but did as she said. She grabbed the pull-tie and chuckled. "Man. And these are my _skinny_ pants and they still don't fit you. Didn't your mom ever teach you to drink your milk?" She felt him slightly tense and looked to his face. He was looking away off to the side at nothing. She began tying the bow while her thoughts trailed.

She didn't know much, other than he was Yukina's long lost brother, and as for that, what she knew was from what Kazuma had told her from Yukina. Apparently, the ice-maiden hadn't gone into much detail about it, but from what she understood, her brother had been lost somehow. She bit her lip and pulled her hands away from him. Obviously she had hit a nerve, but he said nothing.

"Okay...So..." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I'll just...get these..." She picked up his pants and left him alone again. She went into the bathroom and hung the pants on the shower rod along with his cloak. It would take a while for them to dry, but the question was, would they be dry in time for him to leave? She couldn't risk them going in the dryer. An image of Hiei wearing clothes two sizes too small for him made her choke back a laugh.

She re-entered the living room to see Hiei holding his arms and shivering on the couch. "Tsk." She went back into her bedroom and began ransacking her closet.

Why was he so blasted cold all of a sudden? The wet clothes were off of him, and this dwelling wasn't cold in temperature, so what was going on? He couldn't reach his energy, like it was being blocked somehow, and his skin felt hot - however, inside he felt like ice. That was strange to say the least. He sighed as he shook. It would pass eventually. He hadn't had many illness' in his life, but from what he remembered as a child, it would be quick. Anytime he got sick was when he ate something wrong in the wild or badly prepared meat. It lasted about a day and then it went away. Surely, this couldn't be much different. Although, it didn't feel the same...

He looked up to see the woman holding a big light blue blanket. "Here." She went to put it around him and he flinched back. "It's not gonna kill you. You're cold - it'll help." He glared at her and eyed the blanket as if it was a horrifying creature ready to suck his blood. "Geez, you've never been given anything by anyone, have you?" Before he could retort, she flung the blanket around the back of his shoulders and wrapped the two sides around the front of him. He looked as if he was going to tear it off but after a few seconds the chilled feeling went away, so he left it.

He was lost in his thoughts as to how a simple human tool could work so well in aiding in his temperature change, when he saw her hand headed for his forehead. He flinched back again and jumped away from her. "You wanna die?" He snapped.

"I was just checking to see if you have a fever." She stated.

He snorted. "On my Jagan? Not a smart thing to do."

"It's closed, isn't it? I was just - Oh, never mind. I'll be right back." She left him again and Hiei wondered if she ever sat down. She came back in with a long white stick. "Okay, so, open your mouth."

"No."

She sighed. "C'mon, kid. I wanna see how hot you are. Though...you're a fire apparition, right? So what would be your _normal_ temperature?"

"First, I'm not a kid," he sniffled. "Second, how am I supposed to know my body temperature? All I know is, it's higher than humans." He sniffled again and Shizuru braced herself for what came next. Sure enough, he brought his hands up to his face and- "_Hih-gnzzk!_"

It was funny how someone who could blow up an entire stadium in a matter of seconds, was politely covering his mouth and stifling his sneezes. Then she remembered an article she read about people who stifle. '_Oh, he's not being polite. He's too uptight to really let it rip._' She nodded - that made more sense.

He was rubbing his nose like a child and she chuckled inwardly. Then he did it again, this time sounding like his brain burst inside his head. "Okay, that's starting to sound painful. You shouldn't stifle them, kid - you'll only make it worse."

He shot daggers at her and rubbed his nose, sniffing back vigorously. First, she brings him here against his will and now she was telling him how to sneeze? How dare she!

She sighed heavily, sounding exasperated and went out of the room again. This time, she brought back a small white cloth of some kind. "Blow your nose." He looked at it and back up to her.

"Blow...?" Man, did he sound nasal. "How the hell do you _blow_ a nose?"

Oh. My. God.

She blinked. "You've never...Wow. Okay." How the hell do you explain _this_? "You...force air out of your nose really hard, and all the gunk will come out of it. It helps."

"What's that?" He pointed to the cloth.

"It's a handkerchief. I don't have tissues 'cause they're a waste of money - unless me or Kazuma got sick. And it's just me now, so I used these. It's clean, don't worry. I don't get sick much, or like ever." She handed it back to him and he hesitantly took it.

He had to admit, the feeling of impacted airways he was experiencing was annoying. If this _blowing_ technique would rid him of that, he should at least attempt it.

So he brought the cloth up and inhaled deep, closing his mouth and pushing the air out of his nose like he was told. Didn't work so well. All that came of it was a harsh, "_Zzznk!_"

"Try again, you'll get it," Shizuru prompted.

He growled at the idiocy of it all - but no way was he gonna be a failure at such a simple task. He gulped a giant breath and _this_ time exploded his sinuses into the cloth, a loud indescribable sound echoing through the apartment. Shizuru grimaced in disgust and backed up a bit. Just how long was he out in the rain, anyway? And how did he get so sick, so fast?

He felt the pressure relieve and knew he was succeeding, but right at the end, the vibration tickled him and he couldn't help the reaction. A harsh inhale before he ferociously, and openly, exploded into the cloth. "_HIH-AH-AASSHOU!_"

Shizuru smiled smugly and walked over to him. "That's how ya do it, kid!" She slapped his back. "Good job." He glared up at her from the cloth and wiped his face. Sniffing a little, he brought his hands down and she held out that white stick again. "Now, open your mouth."

"What the hell now, woman?" He sounded a little better.

"I guess you killed some brain-cells with that last one. I want to take your temperature. Open your mouth, and I'll stick this under your tongue. It'll tell me how hot you are."

He spit out some air and glanced back up at her, looking less pissed and more tired. "Whatever. I don't care."

"Cool." She moved the stick towards his mouth and he opened it, receiving a hard thing under his tongue. "Now, close your mouth and don't chew it." He rolled his eyes and they remained silent for a minute. The object beeped and Shizuru grabbed it.

"Holy - " She paused. "Like I said, it'd be good to know what you _normally_ are...but I think this is too hot, even for you."

"What is it?" He asked, folding the blanket around him more.

"One hundred and ten." Shizuru stated. Hiei blinked and she returned the gesture. "Gee, I hope you don't set my couch on fire."

~TBC


	3. Cheese Toys

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH  
Continuity: English Version Anime

Cover Drawn By: GoodEnoughTheOpenDoor

"Talking"

'_Thoughts_'

* * *

Getting Soft

Chapter Three: Cheese Toys

X -x-x-x-x- X

Silence went between the two and Shizuru flipped her hair, trying to appear nonchalant. "So...How did you get sick, anyway? Were you out in the rain all day or something?" Hiei looked down. She could swear she saw embarrassment in his eyes. "I thought you guys were more astute than humans...so...what happened?"

"I'm a fire apparition." He stated in a flat tone.

Shizuru sighed. "Yeah, so?"

"I can't be out in the cold." He shivered a little and settled further down into the couch.

Shizuru sat on the empty seat next to him, since the recliner was trashed. "Can't you warm yourself up?"

Hiei sniffed. "I can, but it was proving useless because it continued to rain. There was no point - I would've exhausted my energy trying. So, I was going to wait until it stopped, then dry off and go home. Guess I miscalculated." He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and Shizuru stood up.

"Guess you did - use the handkerchief." She went into the kitchen and began looking around. She didn't have much food, let alone for anyone sick. Hence why she found him in the first place. All she had that could be good for him was some egg noodles. If she had a bouillon cube, she could make a really crappy chicken soup. "Hmm..." She rummaged around the cabinets and managed to find some in an open box. "Hoo-ray," she mused as she shook one out. She didn't know when Hiei had eaten last, but any food would be good for him.

So, she sat out a small pot and ran some water. Then she popped the cube in and set it to boil. "I hope I can go shopping soon..." She looked outside and it was still pouring. She _really_ didn't want to go driving in the rain, but now with Hiei here, she didn't have much choice. She had lost her window of opportunity when she left and found him, so it was either drive in the rain, or spend a fortune ordering in. She sighed heavily as the pot reached a boil. Throwing in the egg noodles, she starting stirring.

Hiei heard her doing something in that cooking room and decided it was best not to know. He barely could smell what it was she was preparing, so he paid it no mind. Instead, he let his eyes sweep over his surroundings.

This dwelling was simple, not too much to look at. The couch he was sitting on was juxtaposed diagonally from the recliner chair. In front of him was a entertainment center with that moving box humans were obsessed with - and some other things that didn't interest him - along with hideous family photos of the fool. His eyes narrowed. The _only_ family photos were of him. Didn't humans usually have pictures of _all_ their family members? Where were the rest? Surely, these two had parents.

He scoffed at himself - what did it matter to him, anyway?

His thoughts were interrupted by Shizuru walking in with a bowl of something with steam coming off of it. "Here. It probably isn't very good, but it's all I got." She handed it out and he looked in the bowl. There was a yellow liquid with squiggly noodles floating in it. He looked up at her and his eyes squinted.

"Not hungry," he curtly replied as he wrapped the blanket tighter around him. When did it get cold again?

Shizuru sighed. "Oh, fine. Freeze for all I care." She sat the bowl on the coffee table and walked away.

This kid was hard to deal with, but if he didn't want the help she wouldn't make him. What was she supposed to do - grid-lock him and force-feed him? She went through that already with Kazuma when he was younger and didn't want to experience it again. Besides, Hiei could get better and kill her for it, so, no.

She grabbed her car-keys and approached him. "I gotta go shopping. Try not to spew _all_ over my living room." He heard the front door open and close and was finally left alone.

"Spew?" he asked the air. Like he would do something like tha - "_Heh-chnzzu!_" Ah, dammit.

He sniffed back and wiped his face with the white cloth. He decided to inspect this bowl of food further and picked it up. The warmth of it pulsed through his hand and up his arm, causing him to shudder. It didn't look too appetizing, however, he had eaten worse - much worse. There was a spoon in it, and he fiddled around with it for a few seconds. He hadn't eaten in a while, maybe since the morning, and was a little hungry, despite what he had told her. He adjusted himself and reached out his left arm, goosebumps appearing on his exposed skin when leaving the warmth of the blanket. It was un-bandaged, unlike his right arm, and he secretly wished it wasn't. The bandages on his right had dried quickly, most likely because of the dark dragon's power. He had hoped that the power of it would help the rest of him, but the dragon was only taking care of itself.

He picked up the spoon and filled it with liquid and two noodles. Placing it in his mouth, he almost thought nothing was there at all until he felt the noodles hit his tongue. He swallowed and looked back in the bowl. This stuff had no flavor whatsoever, but it was hot and he felt it go down his throat and coat his stomach, which seemed to growl happily for it.

He soon had the bowl finished and burped a little under his breath. It wasn't very filling and he was still hungry, and wanted something with at least a little flavor.

He stood up, dragging his blanket with him into the kitchen. Looking around he saw a pot in the sink and...well, nothing else. It was bare, with oak cabinets and white floors.

He pulled out a drawer and saw the utensils and shut it back. He then started opening cabinets and saw that the woman barely had anything to eat at all. No wonder she had to go "shopping" as these humans called it.

The last cabinet turned up a box of colorful characters, some drawing of some sort, and a bag of orange...circles - or balls? "What in the world?" He picked up the bag and held it in his hand. It was made out of plastic and seemed more filled with air than this unknown food product. The writing on it just said "_Cheese Balls_," and his brows furrowed. They didn't look like cheese - they looked like toys. He sat the bag on the counter and grabbed the cardboard box. There on the front, was a purple cat eating what was supposed to be inside. Some kind of...grain? He read the description, feeling even more confused. "_Colorful rice and marshmallows._" Was this candy? That didn't sound too appealing either.

He looked further through the cabinets and the refrigerator and found all she had was a box of something called _ramen_, a box of milk, orange juice, and some red stuff in a bottle. Did this woman eat at all? He sighed and directed his attention towards the bag of cheese again. He picked it up and looked for a way to get the items out of the bag. He didn't see any obvious way, and growled in irritation. The bag looked pretty weak, so it shouldn't be too hard. He put it up to his mouth and bit into it with a sharp fang. Once it was secured in his teeth, he pulled on it harshly with his hand.

The next thing he knew, orange balls were everywhere. The bag seemed to completely fall apart as the product burst from it. He blinked as the things littered the floor and spat the bag out of his mouth to follow. He knelt down and inspected one of these things up close. He poked it with a talon and rolled it around. It was hard and rough, nothing substantial. He picked it up and tried to sniff, remembering he couldn't do that anymore. He swallowed and decided that it probably wouldn't kill him to try it and popped it in his mouth. Biting down, all he felt was this hard thing turn into pieces. It had no flavor, but he couldn't figure out if that was because of his impacted sinuses or that it was just gross already.

He swallowed and turned to the box in the cabinet. Marshmallows were sweet, right?

* * *

Shizuru made her way home, her trunk filled with food. It really had been a while since she had bought anything, mostly because she didn't have a hog eating it all up. She shut the car off in the lot and grabbed her bags of food. She had started using the cloth shopping bags, and thank goodness, because they had strong handles she could use to carry them up the stairs. Another thing she missed that Kazuma would do for her. Even with all his faults, he was very strong.

She grunted as she reached the front door, unlocking it and stepping in. Hiei was still on the couch, blanket wrapped around him. She smiled a little when she saw the empty bowl on the coffee table. '_I __**knew **__he was hungry,_' she thought as she went into the kitchen.

Her epic win was interrupted by a crunch under her foot. Apparently the soup wasn't good enough as the whole floor was covered with what was left in her cabinet. "You've got to be kidding me..." She growled as she sat the groceries on the counter. There wasn't a single inch that didn't house a cheese ball or piece of cereal. "Hiei!"

"What." He replied monotone.

She marched out of the kitchen into the living room. "What the hell did you do in there?"

His droopy eyes looked up at her and she noticed that they weren't really focusing in anything. The fever must be getting to him. She squashed any sympathy she might have felt at that - she was angry, dammit - and continued. "What in the world made you think ruining my kitchen was a good thing to do?"

He snorted, though she couldn't tell if that was his arrogant attitude or just snot. "If I wanted to ruin it, believe me, you wouldn't have a kitchen left." He sank down into the cushion and shivered a little, wrapping the blanket tight.

Shizuru scoffed. "I know you're not human, but are you civilized at all?"

His eyes shot up at her glaring, though still not focused. "Are you implying my race isn't civilized?" It went silent and he snorted again. "You wouldn't be the first." She heard dry humor in his tone and pursed her lips.

"Okay, then you're acting like a two year old. Honestly, what kind of guy opens full bags of food and throws them all over the floor?"

Hiei shrugged. "I ate some of it." Shizuru looked back at the kitchen then back at him.

"Like what?"

"The sweet things in that box," he stated.

Her face went flat. "You really are a kid, aren't you?" She walked back in the kitchen and sighed. A broom wouldn't cut it, so she'd have to use the vacuum. She grabbed it out of the closet and dragged into the kitchen.

She should be pissed - really pissed - but this was the first time since Kazuma left that she had to clean up a mess like this...and she couldn't stop the small smile that was playing on her lips.

The sound emanating from that monstrosity she was using was deafening, especially for an apparition with a fever. Hiei held his ears and squinted as she sucked up the contents of his exploration. He sure wouldn't make that mistake again.

She smiled as she finished her task and put the vacuum back up. When she re-entered the living room she saw Hiei laying down sideways on the couch with the blanket wrapped around his head. She sighed and pulled the blanket down, seeing he was completely out.

"Finally." She pulled the blanket down further to cover his feet, which she just noticed were still bare. Oh, man, she forgot to give him socks! "Oh, idiot..." She tried to secure the blanket around him the best she could, insuring he was warm.

She looked to his face and he was starting to sweat a little. She decided not to touch his forehead - it was way too risky, who knows what the Jagan could do all feverish - so, she touched his neck gently with her fingers. He was blazing hot and she winced, pulling her fingers back. "Man..." Could he really set the place on fire if he got too hot? She hoped not. Death by a demon's cold was not how she wanted to go.

Oh, God.

She held her mouth to stop laughing and ran to her bedroom. It was pushing nine PM and she had to admit she was getting tired. Not that she always went to bed at nine, but today was a hard day. She decided a nice warm shower would do her good, then maybe some reading on her tablet.

A single woman living all alone falling asleep every night with a good story. God, how pathetic. She sighed and hopped in the shower. When she was done she got dressed in her gown - again, how pathetic - and went to the bedroom. But halfway there, she stopped herself and couldn't help but check on Hiei again. He was still sleeping, mouth open, snoring a bit. She ran a hand through her bangs and shut off the lamp beside the couch.

What. A. Day. Hopefully, tomorrow would be better. She had no idea what was going to happen next, but for now it was peaceful. She decided not to read and shut off her lights, falling asleep rather quickly.

* * *

Her body felt weightless and she felt hands around her. Garbled voices filled the air and she opened her eyes, the sights around her blurry before they cleared. The wind blowing stung her eyes and she winced, feeling cold all of a sudden. The voices became more audible and she listened intently to what they were saying. The wind was so loud she could only make up a few words.

"_Monster_."

"_Trash_."

"_Evil_."

"_**Kill**_."

She gasped. Kill? Kill who? Where was she anyway? She tried to look around and saw...fabric of some kind. She then realized that she was up against a person, whom she couldn't tell was male or female, but the voices were female. She tried to move but was being impended by a fabric wrapped around her. The only thing she could do was flex her fingers. Maybe if she tried hard enough she could get a hand out...So she tried that and as soon as she did, she got a look at it.

It was small and chubby, like a baby. Her hand was a baby's. She realized what was going on; she was being held by someone.

"_Don't pity the beast,_" she heard an older female voice say.

"_I'm_ _sorry_," she heard louder, telling her that it was from the person she was being held by. She could also tell it was female too. She looked up to see a beautiful woman with tears in her eyes. She held out a necklace of some kind. In instinct, she grabbed it. It was quite an interesting jewel - it looked like one of Yukina's tear gems...

Wait a minute.

"_When you come back for the revenge that you and we deserve, please kill me first." _She gasped. What? What did that mean? She felt the support under her release, weightlessness following. She was falling backwards, the sobbing woman dissipating from her view almost instantly as she fell. The wind was blinding and it stung on her back, her bundled body twisting and turning in the wind.

She then started to feel something she had never felt before; In the mist of her terror she felt a burning in her heart. It got stronger and stronger as the wind pelted her helpless body.

Rage. Blinding rage. What was odd was that she couldn't tell if she was the one feeling it, or someone else. It was like two were sharing this body. She felt the fear, but the anger was overpowering it.

She saw images of screaming and pain, women running, fire blazing and a horrid thought entered her mind; '_I __**will**__ kill them all_...'

She felt her spirit separate from her body and rose above it, seeing a baby wrapped in bandages, falling away from her. She tried to reach out, to grab it, to hold it, but it fell faster than her and soon it was gone.

She finally found her voice. "_NOOOO...!_"

She found that her scream had reached her own ears, waking her up in a sitting position in her bed. She panted as sweat glazed her face, swallowing to calm herself down. She immediately, without knowing, jumped from the bed and ran to the living room.

Why she felt she needed to check on Hiei again after that dream she had no idea, but she _had_ to. She found him on the floor, his blanket tangled in his legs. He had rolled on the couch and fallen off. She sighed and shook her head. It was funny that the couch was too _small_ for him. She groaned as she picked him up, carrying him by the shoulder out of the living room. He'd kill her if he woke up in Kazuma's bedroom so she had no other choice.

Looks like she was gonna camp out in her brother's bed tonight.

~TBC


	4. Lemons Are Great But Cheating's Terrible

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH  
Continuity: English Version Anime

Cover Drawn By: GoodEnoughTheOpenDoor

"Talking"

'_Thoughts_'

* * *

Getting Soft

Chapter Four: Lemons Are Great But Cheating's Terrible

X -x-x-x-x- X

He opened his eyes and winced at the sun coming through the room. It wasn't that bright, due to curtains hanging on the window, but for some reason it still hurt. He blinked a few times and his eyes felt heavy and like dirt was in them. He sat up and rubbed the hard stuff out of them and swallowed.

His eyes snapped open at the shock.

His throat...hurt. It was odd - he hadn't been injured lately, let alone in the neck, so why was it hurting? What was more odd, it didn't feel like a bruise. It was...from the inside? Like a stinging, aching feeling...and rough too, somewhat itchy. He swallowed again, a slight groan escaping his mouth. It was at that moment he looked around and realized he was somewhere different.

It wasn't the living room, and he wasn't on the couch - he was in a bed. There wasn't much in this room to suggest who it belonged to, just a simple bed, up against the wall at the head, no frame, and a dresser across from it. He squinted his eyes, which seemed to be blurry for some reason, and saw the woman's clothing from last night draped on the dresser. That must mean this room was hers. He looked at the bed and saw that the blue blanket she gave him was over the sheets. How did he end up here? And where was she? He was lost in his thoughts when he suddenly lurched forward and began hacking in his lap.

She opened her eyes and moaned at the sound of Hiei crouping across the hall. She sighed and sat up. He was probably awake and she shook her head. She yawned and threw the covers off. She didn't get much sleep, what with that dream rattling her, and the fact that she had to sleep in her brother's small twin sized bed. Hers was a queen and she was used to it. All night long in Kazuma's bed, however, she kept rolling and startling awake, for fear of falling off. She got up and went to the bathroom, trying to be quiet so Hiei wouldn't hear her. She had her bedroom door closed, so she didn't have to worry about him seeing her. She shut the bathroom door and walked over to where his clothes were hanging.

She inspected his pants and they were still damp. She flipped them over to the other side and checked his coat, seeing it was still cold and damp too. She sighed and took it down off the ramp and shook it out like a beach towel. She heard a clink on the floor and turned to where the sound came from. On the baseboard under the sink was a glittering gem. She gasped and put the coat over the tub then bent down to pick up the jewel. Crouching down, she got a close look, her eyes widening at the beauty, but that wasn't the only reason she was shocked; The jewel looked just like the one in her dream. No difference. She picked it up and gasped at the energy running through it

It was Yukina's energy. "Yukina...?" Was...Was it Yukina in the dream? Was she the baby? She straightened up and continued to hold it in her hand. In the dream she heard that thought after she fell - or was let go.

'_I __**will**__ kill them all_...' That didn't seem like something Yukina would say ever. The sentence came in her mind under her own voice, as if it was her own thought, even though she knew she didn't think it. But because it was in her voice, she had no idea whether it was male or female. She sighed. Did those people get rid of Yukina then?

'_Monste_r.'

'_Evil_.'

They couldn't have been talking about Yukina. She remembered what Kazuma had told her.

"_All I know is that her brother was separated from her at birth, and I'm gonna help her find him! My beautiful - "_ Eh yeah, something like that. She looked down at the stone and went through the whole dream again. Her face contorted into a deep frown as she heard Hiei coughing again.

It was Hiei. The whole dream was Hiei - and it wasn't a dream - it was a memory. She always knew he had psychic abilities, and so did she, so perhaps the Jagan went haywire and transported some stuff to her. Her eyes shown with sympathy as she clutched the stone in her hand. Those...women...tossed a _baby, _a tiny little _**baby**_, off a cliff. She shook her head and put his coat back on the shower rod, making sure to turn it so it could dry completely. She put on her robe and stuck the gem in her pocket. Forgetting to pee, she set about the task of preparing something, _anything_ to make him feel better.

Though she knew that would be impossible.

She had purchased some items just for him at the store to help. Some soup and calming tea, along with other things that would put some vitamins in him. She ran some water into a kettle - yes, she was old fashioned - and sat it on the stove. Hot lemon tea would sooth that cough.

He scooted over to the side of the bed and let his feet touch the floor. He groaned again at the feeling of this...rough throat and stood up, feeling as if he weighed ten times more than what he was. He walked over to the dresser seeing a mirror on the wall behind it and looked at himself.

His hair, which was normally a perfect point, was drooped in certain areas and clumped due to having dried slowly and naturally. He ran his hand through and and shook it around but that only seemed to make it worse. He growled and wished he hadn't, as it irritated his throat, forcing another few coughs out. He opened the door and walked out.

The pant legs had fallen down in his sleep and were now under his feet, making him have to shuffle along on the wooden floor. He managed to make his way to the kitchen where he winced at a high shrieking sound, seeing the woman take something off the stove and place it in the counter. She turned and greeted him with a blank stare, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. "Well, if it isn't the walking dead. How ya feeling this morning, kiddo?" He gave her a sharp glare and she got a closer look at him.

He had bags under his eyes and his eyes themselves had gone from a deep blood color, to a dull hazy red. The darkness and strength was out of them, and well, his hair was pretty bad too. "Yeah, I figured as much. Have a seat, I got something for you." She motioned to the barstool in front of the counter that sat in the entrance and he stared at it. "Can you get up on your own or..." He shot her another sharp glare and she chuckled. "Hey, just asking."

He approached it and seemed to have a little trouble, but soon was sitting comfortably. She took the kettle and poured the water into a cup, sticking a tea-bag in. She sat it on the counter and pulled out her cigarette. "Wait a minute and it'll be ready."

"What is it?" he finally spoke and asked. His voice had lost the deep authority it usually held, and seemed hoarse and weak.

"Hot tea. It has some cough suppressants in it and will sooth that sore throat of yours." His eyes went big and he looked her over incredulously. "What?"

"I know you have spirit awareness, but are you a full psychic?"

"What do you mean?"

"How did you know my throat was irritated?"

She chuckled, inhaling a drag and blowing it out. "Most everyone gets a sore throat with a cold, and the way you sound was a dead give-away."

His eyes narrowed. "_Cold_?"

"Yeah." She flipped an ash in a tray on the counter. "The common cold, or that's what humans call it. It's actually called the rhinovirus, and there's many different forms."

He looked down and she could see agitation on his face. His eyes looked unfocused and far away and she knew what was coming. With another drag, she watched as he inhaled a few build-ups, but nothing happened. It seemed to pass and he blinked furiously. "That was strange..." he muttered.

"Yeah, try not to fight them off, just let it come," she stated, pulling the teabag out and tossing it in the trash, along with her used butt.

"I'm not fi - _ah-huh_ - " And there it was. "_Hi-ashneu!_"All over the floor behind him, the force making the stool shake a bit. He growled again and looked really pissed as he turned back to face the counter. "_Why _do I keep doing that?"

She blinked. "You don't know what a sneeze is?" she asked blankly.

"Of course I know what a sneeze is!" he snapped. "It's caused by something irritating your sinuses. But I can barely breathe, so I have no idea what could be irritating me..."

"Hmm," she mused. "Let's think about this logically, shall we? Let's say you're an organism who can only survive by living in another organism, AKA; a person. And your only purpose is to procreate. That's it. How would you go about doing that when the body you're in is attacking you and killing you?"

He paused and thought about it. If he was trapped in a body that was killing him, and he needed his offspring to survive, then the only way would be to, "Seek out another organism to live in," he answered.

Shizuru nodded. "Yup. That way it continues to live on. Now, how would you get your kids from one body to another? Believe it or not, most people don't go around randomly making out with each other, so it would have to be a way of spreading in a wide and effective manor."

His eyes moved around in thought. "So...I'm spreading the virus for it to procreate...by sneezing? That's what that is?" She nodded.

"Well, it's also because your sinuses are trying to fight it off so they fill up with gunk and irritate them, causing a response. But it all ties together into a nice pretty bow. Yeah, I actually payed attention in biology class. Science is fun."

He frowned. "It's disgusting. How long does this last?"

She bit her lip. "They say three days coming, three days here, three days going..."

"NINE days?" he barked.

She ignored him, "But you didn't go through the three days coming part, and just jumped into it, so that means, three days here and three days going... About six, give or take."

"Six days? I can't have this for six days!"

"Well, you aren't human, so it might be quicker. I have no idea." She shrugged.

"I cannot be bothered with this for six days!" he continued to yell, his voice cracking.

"Why, ya got pressing matters to attend to?" she asked in flat sarcasm. He glared at her and she shrugged again. "What, you really do? I dunno what you do with your life."

"No," he answered. "Nothing really. I'm done with patrol...But Mukuro will wonder where I am..."

"Yeah, girlfriends get like that," Shizuru stated, receiving another hard glare.

"She's not my girlfriend - a horrid word only humans could invent..."

"Oh. Then she's your...mate?" she asked remembering nature programs.

"NO!" he shouted, the stool wiggling again.

"Geez, okay, okay. Calm yourself before you fall off. I just assumed based on what Kazuma said - "

His eyes widened. "You brother talks about _Mukuro_?"

She sighed. "Well, yeah. He said that it was weird you had a girlfriend but that he hoped it would make you a nicer guy. Ya know, optimistic crap like that."

Hiei growled, holding his throat. "I hate to burst his bubble, but Mukuro and I are not romantically involved. And if she knew he was talking about her this way, she'd kill him herself, so I suggest you tell your empty-headed brother to keep his stupid mouth shut!"

Shizuru rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Like I haven't tried? Please, nothing shuts him up."

He sighed heavily and picked up the cup, sipping some into his mouth and blinking in surprise. "What is this?"

"Lemon tea. It helps."

"Hm." He continued slowly sipping it and she smiled in spite of herself. How can someone who looks like he got dragged behind a semi-truck and left for dead be cute right now?

"Let's see how you're doing." She reached to touch him and he jerked back, the tea spilling a little onto the counter.

"Do _not_ touch me," he warned, his voice a little better.

"Hey, I wanna see if you have a fever still. It's either that or I get the white stick again."

He nodded quickly. "Good, then get the white stick. I don't like being touched."

She dead-panned. "I'm gonna take a wild stab in the dark and assume you've never had a girlfriend at all." She went off to get the thermometer, which was still on the coffee table, while Hiei sat in silence. She came back and he took another drink, causing her to throw her arms up in exasperation. "Well, now I can't use it 'cause you just drank some hot tea!"

"What difference does it make?" he snapped back.

"Because your mouth is hot now! I'll have to wait for it to cool off - which won't happen if you keep drinking that!" She finished as he took another sip.

"_You_ gave it to me!" he yelled.

"I know!" she yelled back.

"Then I'm drinking it!"

"Fine!"

"_Fine!_"

"FINE!" They both panted and she crossed her arms, watching him arrogantly take another drink, as if to just make her more angry. She huffed and brought down her arms. "Oh, please." She touched the outside of her hand against his neck and he flinched, choking on the tea. She brought her other hand to the other side of his neck and felt that he was much cooler now. "There. That wasn't so bad," she simply said as she took her hands away, Hiei still coughing and choking.

"I _will_ kill you," he stated and her eyes widened at how much he sounded like that thought in her dream. If she wasn't sure before, she was now.

"How, by your newest nose attack? I'm shaking." She turned from him and went to the sink, nervously putting her hand in her pocket, remembering that the stone was in there. She should probably give it back. She turned to him, seeing his eyes closed, silently drinking and held out the necklace. "Is this yours?"

He opened his eyes and immediately, his face contorted to shock, then fury. "_Where_ did you get that?" he demanded.

"I was trying to dry your coat and it fell out of the pocket." He blinked and looked at it, then her, then back at it. "Is it yours?" she repeated.

He swallowed uncomfortably. "Yes." She held it out to him and he quickly took it, placing it around his neck and putting the jewel under his shirt. They remained in silence and she turned back to the sink.

"So...are you sure it's yours? 'Cause you don't really seem like the type to wear pretty jewelry."

"Oh, dammit..." he swore and she sighed.

"It fell out of your pocket, okay! I wasn't trying - "

"Not that!" His voice was an uncharacteristic whine and she turned to see him inhaling sharply. "_Heh_-_shnechuu!_" He groaned and faced the tea again. "I'm getting tired of this..."

"Yeah, next time could you do this?" She brought up the collar of her gown to cover her mouth and nose. He stared blankly at her. "It's the best way to block the germs - though I've already been exposed twenty times over - it's a nice courtesy."

He scoffed and jumped off the stool. "I'm leaving," he stated.

"W-What?"

"You heard me." He faced her. "I don't take orders." His voice sounded dark again, the way it usually did, and she pursed her lips.

"That would be a lot more threatening if you didn't have snot running down your nose."

He let out what could only be described as a yelp, and brought the shirt up to wipe it off. With a growl, he looked back at her, eyes shining with boiling rage.

"I didn't do it to ya. I'm trying to help," she stated.

"I didn't ask for it."

"So what? People can give help without being asked." He scoffed again. "I guess you've never had someone do that for you." It went silent between them and she sighed hard. "Look. If you go back, everyone is gonna find out you let yourself get sick. What _would_ Mukuro say?" His eyes widened. This human was playing dirty, but she was right; He could hear Mukuro's laugher echo in his head.

_'After all our fights, a human germ brings you to your knees? Ha! I'm so scared of your mucus!'_

He growled and shook as he raged inside of himself. And what if this was contagious, and he gave it to Snout? His big nose...sneezing...Dear God.

"Fine," he seethed. "I'll stay...until it's gone..." he conceded and she smiled.

She flipped her hair back. "What an honor this'll be for me."

* * *

The morning ticked by painfully slow, and Shizuru was starting to regret this big time. She had just started her vacation off work, and it seemed she'd have to spend the whole thing here, taking care of a temperamental germ-bag.

After eating an energy bar and showering, she sat down on the couch and turned on the television. Hiei had done nothing but sit on the barstool, looking totally pathetic in his brooding misery. His arms were crossed and sitting on the counter, with his head laying on them. He looked like a child in time-out.

"Hey, come on. I bet your butt's really startin' to hurt. Come sit on the couch," she called to him. He did nothing but slink further into his arms. "Come _on_..." she called again in sing-song. "I'll keep bothering you until you _do_..."

He grumbled and slid off the barstool, shuffling his feet the whole way. He made his way past her and sat on the couch, though it was more like a drop. He sighed and messed with his hair, still trying to fix it, and she simply shook her head. "Hmp," she grunted as she began to look for things to watch. Saturday's always sucked a big whopper and she had to settle on a court show.

"_I asked him to take the car in for a paint job, not a wax and polish!__** I**__ shouldn't have to pay for the money __**he**__ wasted!" _a woman yelled.

"_She told me she wanted a full treatment! That means all the works! It isn't __**my**__ fault it's so expensive!_" a man on the defendant side yelled back.

Hiei crossed his arms and murmured, "Why don't they just punch each other and get it over with?"

Shizuru chuckled. "If it's that you want, here." She flipped the channel and on the screen was a bunch of people in the middle of a stage, all trying to beat each other senseless. The only audio was this annoying beeping sound.

Hiei's face morphed to confusion as he watched all these fat humans try to kill one another. Was this a tournament of some kind? Then one male ripped off a female's shirt, the crowd reacting wildly as she shook herself before them. He faced Shizuru who was snickering behind her hand.

"Yeah, I'm not Springer fan either." She brought up the channel guide and sighed. "Let's see...Ooh, a Discovery program about _sex_, that sounds fun!" She laughed as Hiei's eyes went wide and waved him off. "Nah...Oh, there's the one about the conjoined twins...seen it...Dwarfs...no...The fish-man, what?"

"Is all your entertainment about freaks of nature?" Hiei bit out.

Shizuru shrugged. "Eh, no, but there's a lot of it - hey! Last night's wrestling! Yes!" She flipped it again and sat the remote on the couch. Hiei looked up to see two human males with slightly bigger body masses, fighting each other in a ring. Now _this_ looked like a tournament, and something he could tolerate. But as he watched closely, he soon began to realize that it wasn't.

These men were _not_ fighting. He looked over at her and she was yelling at them, as if they could hear her. "Oh, come on! Suck it up! Get him!"

His eyes narrowed. Did she truly not know the difference? "This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever witnessed," he finally spat out.

She looked over at him and asked, "What? It's violence - I thought you'd enjoy that."

He snorted. "Perhaps if it was _real_. But this is fake. They aren't really hitting each other." She looked at the screen and back at him. "Watch closely. Every time one goes to hit the other, he stomps his foot to make a sound. The sound distracts you and makes you think he connected, but if you look, you can see their hands never really make contact."

"Very astute," she stated.

He scoffed. "It's pointless." One male then jumped on top of another male.

"Tell me how fake that was - he really jumped on him."

Hiei shook his head. "These men were obviously trained in deception. I guarantee, that didn't hurt them."

Shizuru just sat back on the couch. "Whatever, it's still fun to watch."

He narrowed an eye at her. "Not to me. Where's that program about mating? I could use a good laugh." He went for the remote and Shizuru grabbed it at the same time he did.

"I don't think so, squirt."

"Let go, human."

"No, I'm not missing this again."

He yanked the remote, but her grip was still on it. "Who cares if you miss it - it isn't real!"

She yanked back, pulling him forward. "All T.V. is fake, nobody cares! I still wanna see it!"

He stood up, pulling her arm with him. "If you ask me, it proves how stupid you and your whole race is!"

She stood up, pulling his hand to her, growling in his face. "You can call my race stupid but calling _me_ stupid is where I draw the line!"

"Ha!" He pulled back and she did the same, both of them yanking and pulling on the plastic control, the channels changing randomly.

"_Buy yourself some - cheap tasty - long luxurious hair - sucks up the - dryness all day!_" the television sang as they fought.

"It's _my_ T.V.!" she screamed.

"Like I care?" he shouted, sniffing back and suddenly looking panicked.

"Uh, oh!" Shizuru teased. "Whatcha gonna do, Hiei?" His grip was lessening, but at her words it tightened.

"Let it go all over YOU!" he all but screeched, pulling back violently, her along with him, both of them tumbling to the floor.

Shizuru shouted as she felt herself land on top of him, both their hands still tangled on the remote. "Oh, just give it to me!" She fought with him, ignoring how he was sniffling and soon found herself straddling him, still trying to pry his hands off of it. "Hiei, I swear to God, I'm gonna - " She saw his face contort into a sneeze and jumped up from him burying her face into the couch cushion to shield herself. But what she heard next was not a sneeze, but a low, wicked chuckle. She looked up and saw him standing, remote in hand, bouncing it a little.

"Too easy," he stated with dark amusement.

"You...faked?" She growled and stood up, her face red. "How _dare_ you? Faking is the most despicable trick any fighter can make. I would think something like that would be beneath you."

He pursed his lips and grinned. "This wasn't a true fight anyway."

"It doesn't matter that it wasn't a true fight. I expected more from you."

"Meaning?"

"I didn't think you would cheat."

It went silent and Hiei looked as if he didn't like being accused of cheating. His cruel smirk morphed into a glare, his eyes beginning to show the darkness he was known for again. But as if on cue, fate stepped in and decided to punish the apparition for his dirty trick. His glare melted away as his eyes became unfocused. Shizuru watched intently as his eyes shut and all emotion faded from his face, looking more _young_ now without all that "I'm so bad" attitude. He almost looked innocent. He cocked his head and aimed it at his shoulder.

"_Hih-ekishuu!_" While he was distracted, she grabbed the remote from his hand. He snapped his head back to try to stop her, but fate sure is mean when she feels you've laughed at her. Instantly he erupted into a fit like she hadn't seen before, and she ran to the kitchen hearing him gasp and explode for mercy.

"And that's what you get for cheating," she laughed still hearing his misery.

"_AH-SHEOUU!_" And then he raged. "IF I HAD MY SWORD I'D _KILL_ YOU!" he screamed in fury, causing him to hack now uncontrollably, making her laugh more.

Good thing he didn't have it.

~TBC


	5. Three's Company, Too

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH  
Continuity: English Version Anime

Cover Drawn By: GoodEnoughTheOpenDoor

"Talking"

'_Thoughts_'

* * *

Getting Soft

Chapter Five: Three's Company, Too

X -x-x-x-x- X

She went back into the living room after he finally stopped hacking and chuckled. "Where _is_ your sword anyway?"

He was holding his even more sore throat and growled. "I don't know...I had it with me." He looked at her accusingly and she scoffed.

"Hey, it wasn't on you when I brought you here."

"Well,_ I _didn't lose it."

"Are you saying I did? How could I have if you didn't have it on you?"

He rolled his eyes. "Hmp. Why was I in another room this morning?"

'_Yeah, change the subject so you don't have to admit defeat.' _She smirked. "You fell off the couch. I thought you'd be more comfortable in a _real_ bed." He shot her a glare and she sighed. "It's _my_ bed, okay?"

He sniffed back some congestion and looked at her bedroom door. It seemed like he wanted to say something, but he didn't. It went silent between them and he turned from her and walked out of the living room. "Hey...where are you going?"

"Back to bed," he clipped and went to her bedroom, shutting the door.

She growled out in frustration and shook her head. Why was she doing this again? Anybody? The phone rang and she grabbed it, answering sharply. "What."

'Oh, Shizuru...is everything okay?' It was Keiko and she berated herself.

"Yeah, I'm fine. What's up? The world's not coming to an end again, is it?"

Keiko laughed a little. 'No...I was wondering if you'd like to go shopping with me.'

Shizuru thought about it. That seemed nice. It had been a while since she shopped for clothes with a girlfriend, and it would get her away from Mr. Sunshine. "Yeah, sure, sounds fun."

'Alright, I'll meet you at the mall in...thirty minutes?'

"Cool." They said their goodbyes and hung up. Shizuru got dressed and marched up to _her_ bedroom door - it was hers, dammit - and shouted, "Hey! I'm going out!"

"I'm so happy for you," was the flat reply.

"Don't destroy anything. I'll be back..." She looked at her watch. It was pushing noon and she'd have to be back in a while to feed him. She knew he could feed himself but after what happened the last time, she might end up coming home to a pile of wood. "...in an hour or so." A cough was her response and she sighed, grabbing her coat, keys and exiting.

As soon as he knew she was gone, he slipped into the bathroom. Damn stupid female giving him all that tea - it went straight through him! He inspected the toilet and lifted the lid. Human toilets were so...weird. Not that they didn't have them in Demon World, they were just for the rich and elite. Most people had to go outside...or in a hole in the floor. He did his business and looked at this thing further. Wasn't it supposed to do something? Oh, well. He left the bathroom without flushing or putting down the lid.

He then made his trek to the kitchen. He hadn't had anything to eat since the marshmallows last night and was starting to get really hungry. After exploring for a few minutes he soon discovered that everything was in a bag or a box or _something_. He growled out in irritation. If he tried to open anything and made a mess, she'd use that horrible machine again to clean it. Don't want that.

He chewed on his bottom lip and paused as he regarded a pink cat, adorning a green hat, sitting on the counter. It looked decorative, and he moved in closer. The hat looked lopsided and he touched it, seeing that it was removable. He did and looked inside the feline. It was filled with flat, rounds things, that had dark spots on them. Was this food? If it was, it would be easy to get out. He grabbed the cat and moved it to the bar, hopping up on the stool and picking out one of the items.

Oddest piece of food he'd ever seen. "Hm..." He took a tentative bite and chewed it around. It was soft, malleable, and seemed to melt in his mouth. The dark things were sweet - a flavor he hadn't tasted before. He swallowed, still feeling his throat hurt, but it was worth it. This was food and it wasn't bad. He popped the rest of it in his mouth and vigorously chewed it. Licking his fingers, he got off the stool and looked around.

This place was utterly boring. He sighed and grabbed the cat, carrying it around to the coffee table. Grabbing another flat circle, almost without knowing, he started inspecting the thing that held the _T.V._ as she called it. There were several things attached to it with what looked like...veins? Rope? No, cords, that was it. He murmured as he finished the circle in his mouth and looked to the left of the shelving. Inside were books and other things, probably some form of entertainment these humans enjoyed.

Gross. He scoffed and pulled out a rather large book and sat on the couch. When he opened it, he saw it wasn't a book, but...something filled with photographs. They were different from the others around the apartment; They were pictures of children. Even so, he could immediately point out Kuwabara's ugly face, even as a child.

He reached for another sweet circle, as if on autopilot, and began flipping pages. He saw numerous photos of the woman as a child. She was skinny and scrawny, not at all like she appeared now. One picture showed her in a bathing suit, cheering about something. He noted how happy her face looked.

But as he flipped the pages, he soon noticed that the happy face went away and was replaced by a sullen one. He reached for another sweet circle. There were suddenly no more pictures of her and now the pages were showing the fool. He gulped - how terrifying.

They were all hideous, especially shots of him smiling, playing with kittens, laughing and happy. His stomach growled - maybe he should stop eating those sweet things.

One shot of what looked like a party made his eyebrows raise. It was colorful and bright, sickening really, but what caught his interest was the human with the painted face trying to do something with a toy and Kuwabara wailing for mercy.

And then he did something he never thought he would. It was a short exhale of breath, no sound with it, but definitely a reaction to the picture. He blinked.

A...laugh? Ew, no.

He slammed the book shut and went to put it back, but a piece of folded paper came falling out of it. He sat the book on the floor and opened the paper. It was a newspaper clipping. He read it and found his eyes widening.

"_They leave behind two children and will be sorely missed._"

That was the last line in the article and he read over it again. Apparently, it was a story about two human adults being killed in an automobile accident. He would've wondered why she'd have something like this but the names gave him the answer before he could ask.

_Chihiro and Kanade Kuwabara; _Their parents. So...that's where they were. He refolded the paper and put it in the book, placing it back where he got it.

Time for another sweet thing.

* * *

"I'm gonna see Yusuke today," the younger brunette smiled.

"I'm so shocked," Shizuru teased as she inspected a yellow shirt. Yellow wasn't really her color but it was awful cute.

"Yeah, wanna come with me?"

Shizuru paused. She hadn't eaten any of Yusuke's awesome cooking for a while, but...she did need to get home. Maybe she could go there and bring some back for Hiei. She scoffed. Nah. He wouldn't appreciate it anyway. She sighed and shook her head. "Maybe some other time, hun." Keiko looked disappointed but nodded.

They had been there an hour and Shizuru was checking her watch every fifteen minutes.

"Got something you need to do today, Shizuru?" Keiko asked as they approached the checkout.

"Well...kind of...Nothing big though..." She frowned. '_Just an angry, sick fire demon __**alone **__in my house. Yeah, nothing big._' They paid for their new clothes and Keiko smiled.

"Oh, okay. I'll let you go, then. Thanks for hanging out with me!"

Shizuru smiled back. "Sure, we should do it more often." They hugged and went their separate ways, Shizuru finding herself going a _little_ over the speeding limit to get home.

When she made it inside, she looked around suspiciously, seeing nothing out of whack. She was surprised and went to put her new clothes in the washer. When she was done she entered the bathroom, seeing a pot full of pee and...oh, God...sprinkles on the seat.

"_HIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIII__**!**_"

His ears were bleeding, he was sure of it, as she busted the bedroom door, face red and heated. "WHAT. THE. HELL!"

"_What?!_" He croaked, crouping a little.

"You peed on the seat! Don't you know how to lift it up? And you didn't flush! That's disgusting - I bet you didn't even wash your hands." He blinked at her. "Oh, God, you didn't. What a child." He went to retort but another round of hacking cut him off. "Oh, please..." She slammed the door and went about cleaning the toilet.

She was never getting married._ Ever_.

After she was done, she burst back in. "I think it's time for you to scrub - and I mean _scrub -_ those germs off you." He rolled on the bed to face her.

"Meaning?"

"A shower."

"I don't take orders from you, woman." He grabbed the handkerchief she had given him and sneezed openly into it. "_Eh-shnuu!_" As he did, he heard a beep. He looked at her and saw her holding up one of those contraptions humans were _obsessed_ with. A cell-phone?

"You take a shower or I'm gonna text this pic of you sneezing in a comfy bed, with a _blankie_ to everyone we know."

His eyes widened. "You...have the capability to do that?"

"Yep. Human technology rocks." She showed the screen to him and, sure thing, he looked pathetic. "Who should be first..._Kuuuurrramaaa_?" He snarled at her and got out of the bed, stomping over to her, wishing he could peel the flesh right off her face. Yeah, that would take that grin away.

"I hate you."

"Lift the seat next time." She stepped aside and pointed to the bathroom. Hiei continued to stomp like a child into it and slammed the door. "Try not to drown the whole place, 'cause I think Yusuke would _love_ this picture."

He growled as he removed his shirt. Note to self; Destroy that thing while she sleeps.

He crumpled up the shirt and threw it on the floor, then slowly removed Yukina's stone and placed it on the sink.

After he was naked he stepped in the shower and looked around. Again, another weird human invention. Not that Makai didn't have showers or tubs either, but again, only the rich and elite had them. Everyone else had to use a river or hot spring. He sighed and crouched to inspect the handles.

He decided to just turn them and see what happened, water pouring out to greet him. Okay, that was something in the right direction, but how was he supposed to bathe in it? He started looking at the many knobs and buttons, finding one under the spigot. He fumbled with it and pulled it up, the water suddenly starting to pool in the tub. Oh, that stopped it from draining out - that made sense.

He didn't know how to get this water to shower down on him so he just complied to taking a bath. Sitting down, he waited for the water to get high enough, adjusting the temperature to the hottest. He sighed and leaned back, feeling a little more relaxed now. Also, the humidity was clearing up his sinuses and he could breathe better now. The water now reached his stomach and he shut it off, so it wouldn't get too high.

Now what? He looked around and saw a bar of white soap, and a bottle of something else. He picked it up and read "_shampoo_" on the bottle. He opened the lid and took a sniff.

Not the smartest thing for someone who's suffering from a cold and an extra sensitive nose.

Shizuru rolled her eyes as she heard him fiercely sneeze in the bathroom. She was cleaning up the bedroom a little bit and came out, jumping at another person staring at her, mouth agape.

"K-Kazuma?"

Kuwabara stood there, holding Hiei's boots, which she had forgotten she placed outside the door. "Why are there shoes outside your door? And why is Hiei's energy in here? And did I just hear him in the bathroom?"

Shizuru started to sweat. This wasn't good. Hiei and her brother...oh, man. "Uhh..."

"Woman!" Hiei's voice boomed from the bathroom. "How do I get this stupid thing to turn on? I've pulled on everything and nothing works!" Her face paled in response as Kuwabara dropped Hiei's boots on the floor.

He calmly approached the bathroom door and flung it open. "YOU DIRTY PERVERT!"

Next was a bunch of yelling and screaming, Kuwabara's face getting bruised - not from Hiei, but from her beating the crap out of him - and then having to show poor Hiei how to rinse the soap out of his hair, both siblings seeing parts of the Jaganshi neither ever wanted to see.

And her whole bathroom got soaked.

Skip ahead as two young males sat red-faced at the counter. One from injuries and another from embarrassment - or perhaps just being sick. Shizuru sighed as she lit her new cigarette - one she actually needed this time - and addressed them.

"Now that that's all settled, what are you doing here, Kazuma?"

"What, you don't wanna see me?"

She scoffed. "Well, yeah, but you only visit on special occasions or holidays. Why now?"

Kuwabara grinned. "'Cause I saved up enough money for the trip! Only for the weekend though. Gotta go back tomorrow afternoon."

"That's barely a day," Shizuru sated, disappointed.

"_Too_ much if you ask me..." Hiei retorted.

"We didn't!" Kuwabara snapped. "Why is he here again? I mean, it's so weird!"

She frowned. "I told you why. I felt like helping him out."

Kuwabara's face contorted. "But...why?"

She sighed. "Because I'm a wonderful person." She took a drag.

"The first time I've seen..." her brother muttered, receiving a deathly glare. She thought she heard something like a snicker from the fire apparition and shot her glare at him. He, in turn, tried to hide his reaction but ended up coughing a short fit onto the floor.

Kuwabara shook his head after Hiei's fit ended and sighed. "Oh, well. At least I'm home. Ya got any of those chocolate cookies I like?"

Shizuru puffed another drag. "Nope. _Somebody_ ate them all." She looked pointedly at Hiei who just stared blankly back.

"What?! All of them? Aw, man...At least I know you have my favorite cereal." It went silent and Shizuru shook her head.

"He ate that too."

Kuwabara turned sharply to Hiei, who had a smug grin on his face. "I didn't peg you as the type of guy to like sweets."

Hiei shrugged. "It's the only thing tolerable in this world."

Kuwabara blew out some air. "Fine...I'll just settle for some cooking at Urameshi's."

Shizuru raised an eyebrow, "Ah, so _that's _the real reason you're visiting. Not for me, but to hang around with Yusuke."

"Well, I also planned to see Yukina too!" he beamed.

Shizuru looked over at Hiei seeing him flinch and grab the edge of the bar, gripping it tight. "Maybe you should leave her alone for a while, bro. You bother a girl too much and she'll get sick of you."

Kuwabara blinked. "Huh? I haven't seen her in a month! How is that too much?"

"At _all _is too much..." Hiei mumbled under his breath.

"What was that, shrimp?"

Shizuru put out her butt. "Look, I'm just telling you not to smother her, okay?"

"I'm not, I swear! She doesn't even have a cell-phone, so the only time we talk is when I visit." He looked sad but brushed it off, standing up. "Anyway, I wanna hang out with all of you - though I wasn't planning on _you_..." he finished looking at Hiei who paid him no mind. "It's so weird...You're really sick...with a _cold_?"

"No, I'm doing a science experiment," Hiei answered flatly.

Kuwabara turned and looked at the television. "Hey! Wanna play a quick round before I head to Urameshi's?"

Shizuru knew what he wanted. "I haven't played that in a while."

"Me neither! Come on, sis!" He looked like a little kid, excited on Christmas and Shizuru shook her head with a chuckle.

"Okay."

"Yeah! They're still in my closet, right?" He ran to his bedroom and Hiei looked up at Shizuru in question.

"It's a video game. You'll see."

Kuwabara came out holding two mini plastic guitars. One was black and red and the other was navy blue. "Time to rock!"

"Music?" Hiei turned to face him on the stool, Kuwabara scoffing in return.

"Yeah, not that _you_ would know anything about it."

Hiei narrowed an eye and looked back at the woman. "I thought you said it was a game. How can music be a game?"

She grabbed the black and red guitar. "You'll see, kid. Let's set it up."

"I'm the mohawk guy!" Kuwabara ran to the T.V. and booted up the system. Hiei watched as a screen popped up and the two of them went about setting up whatever it is that they needed. He found himself getting off the stool and sitting in the broken recliner, watching intently in what they did.

An annoying "rock" song started playing, colored lights showing on the screen. They were clicking the plastic guitars, and the swordsman found his eyes going back and forth from them to the screen, trying to figure it out. After about three minutes, Kuwabara cheered.

"YYYYYEAH! I win! Sorry, sis." His mohawk character was making a victory pose while her girl clad in red shook her head.

Hiei was now even more confused. "What the hell was that?"

Kuwabara looked at Hiei in amusement. "You wouldn't understand, shorty."

"Give him a chance, I think he would." Shizuru walked up to the smaller male and showed the guitar to him. "See these colored keys? When the colors appear on the screen you press the keys to match."

"Yeah, but it's more than that! You got the bar and stuff, and you gotta hold them down for long notes. I doubt he could handle it." Kuwabara laughed when Hiei glared at him.

"Is that so? Hmp, I bet I could." Shizuru sighed - she knew that Kazuma was trying to goad Hiei into playing, only to humiliate him. Oh, well. Payment for the toilet seat.

"Oh, yeah? That's the same attitude you had with rock, paper, scissors!" Hiei said nothing and stood up, crossing his arms. "Okay...if you're sure..." the human teased.

Shizuru handed over her guitar to Hiei, seeing it was the perfect color for him.

"Are you gonna be the _girl_, Hiei?" Kuwabara laughed at his face.

Hiei glanced at Shizuru and she came up to help him with the character selection. "Who do you want?"

Kuwabara rolled his eyes. "He probably wants somebody gross. There's the Grim Reaper - You want him?"

Hiei shrugged. "I don't care."

So, Kuwabara was the mohawk guy and Hiei the Grim Reaper. Perfect.

Two minutes, and a terrible Megallica song later, Kuwabara was the victor; Hiei had last by a landslide. However, he had learned how to do it, and noted all his mistakes. "That's not very fair, bro. Did you set it to easy?"

"No way! The lowest I'll go is medium. I'm not lowering it for him."

She narrowed an eye. "That's like cheating."

"I play at expert. I lowered it. That's not cheating."

"Hn, set it to expert, then. I guarantee, I'll win." Both human siblings looked over at the apparition.

"Wow." Kuwabara said nothing else, set it to expert and selected _Welcome to the Jungle_ by Guns 'N Roses.

"Thank God, something good." Shizuru laughed. "Hey, this one starts right off, so get ready," she whispered to the three eyed boy, him just "hnning" in response.

The song started out slow and Hiei missed the few first notes, but then kept up with it. The intro went by easy enough but then the real song started. The notes were flying by and somehow Hiei was able to keep up.

"_**Welcome to the jungle, we got fun and games**_**. **_**We got everything you want - honey, we know the names. We are the people that can find whatever you may need. If you got the money, honey, we got your disease.**_

_**In the jungle, welcome to the jungle. Watch it bring you to your knn, knn, knees, knees - I want to watch you bleed**._"

After the second verse and chorus was the small guitar solo and believe it or not, Hiei nailed it and Kuwabara missed two notes!

"_**Welcome to the jungle, it gets worse here every day. Ya learn to live like an animal in the jungle where we play. If you got hunger for what you see, you'll take it eventually. You can have anything you want but you better not take it from me.**_

_**In the jungle, welcome to the jungle. Watch it bring you to your ja-knn, knn, knees, knees - I'm gonna watch you bleed.**_"

The song got a little slow at this part and Shizuru gave Hiei a gentle slap on the shoulder, he smirked from that and Kuwabara's frustrated face. '_Don't challenge someone with higher brain capacity to a game, fool._'

Then the large guitar solo with long notes started and Hiei had learned the whammy bar without anyone teaching him! Both characters were glowing now with high scores.

"_**You know where you are? You're in the jungle, baby. You're gonna die...**_"

It was nearing the end now and Kuwabara was starting to sweat - he was actually about to lose!

"_**Feel my serpentine**._"

Hiei's breathing was ragged as he concentrated on the notes but right as it was finishing, he erupted into a huge coughing fit, missing all the last lines and Kuwabara taking the win. "Yeah, read it and weep, shorty - or hack," Kuwabara laughed.

Shizuru found herself behind Hiei who was still coughing harshly and rubbed his back. "That's not fair, Kazuma - he had you and you know it." Hiei shrugged away from her and threw the guitar on the floor, skulking back to the stool, sitting on it and facing away from them.

Shizuru scoffed. "Men are such babies when they're sick..." she grumbled, picking up the guitar.

"I am not!" Hiei squeaked.

Kuwabara laughed. "Whatever - I still won!"

"Look at that score - it's so close - he would've won if he hadn't - "

"But he did and I won. Ha."

There was no getting past that thick head of his so she shut off the game, not bothering to save.

"Hey, I wanted that score!"

"And I want world peace." Shizuru retorted. "Too bad."

Kuwabara grumbled and looked at the clock. "We killed a few. I'm heading over to Urameshi's. Wanna come?"

Shizuru brightened. "Yeah? Keiko said she was too..." She looked over at Hiei who was still not facing them. "Hey, kid - ya hungry?"

He turned his head to her. "What?"

"Yusuke's ramen stand - you never tried it?"

"Duh, of course he hasn't. He never does anything normal or fun." Kuwabara stated, leaving to get his shoes.

Hiei scoffed and wiped his nose with his hand. "Cookies aren't exactly a good meal. Yusuke makes some really good stuff." She offered coolly. He sighed. "I think your clothes are dry by now. Come on..."

"I thought the whole point of me staying here was so no one would find out about me being ill. Why would I want to leave and advertise it?"

"Like Yusuke's gonna know. Just don't talk much - I'm sure you can handle that - and it'll be fine." He sighed again, seeing Kuwabara exit his bedroom, jacket on and shoes in hand.

"Are we going or not?"

Shizuru gave Hiei a gentle nudge and went to her bedroom. "Be right back, try not kill each other."

Kuwabara shot Hiei a look. "She likes you."

"I'm so lucky," was the sarcastic response.

"Actually, you are, 'cause my sister never likes anybody so when she does it's huge. Don't blow it by being..._you_."

Shizuru came back out with a nicer shirt and her jacket. "Ya coming with us, kid?:

Hiei snorted and hopped off the stool. "Where are my clothes?"

It was a good thing Shizuru had moved them before the _shower_ incident, placing them on her bedroom floor near the vent to dry. She told Hiei and he went in to get changed.

"It's so _weird_..."

"You said that already."

"But he, like, _listens_ to you and stuff..._**weird**_..."

Hiei came out dawning his usual black pants and cloak, the white scarf a little wrinkled from drying. He was still missing the bandanna, but most people wouldn't notice that slit on his forehead if he kept his head down so it didn't matter. He slipped on his boots wordlessly, the two humans doing the same and all three were out the door.

"I call shotgun!" Kuwabara ran to the front and Hiei scowled, soon seeing what "shotgun" meant.

"I'm not sitting in the back like some dog," Hiei growled.

"_I'm_ family. _**You're**_not." Hiei's face went from angry to something else and he just looked at the ground. Kuwabara didn't know how that comment translated in Hiei's head, but Shizuru knew.

"We'll flip a coin." She pulled out a quarter.

"But we settled this - "

"Heads or tails, kiddo?" She showed the coin to Hiei and he shrugged.

"Heads always wins!" Kuwabara smiled.

"Good, Hiei has heads, then." Kuwabara sputtered as his sister flipped the coin and caught it on her hand. "Whad'ya know? Heads. Guess Hiei gets the front seat after all." Kuwabara was stuttering like an idiot as Shizuru simply went to the driver's side.

Hiei said nothing as he sat in the front, but smirked as Kuwabara less than quietly got in the back. "Stupid dwarf."

* * *

They had to park at a small gas station near by and walked about five minutes to Yusuke's. Kuwabara kept looking behind him, noticing how tired Hiei looked. He was also not moving as fluidly as he usually did, his steps somewhat shaky and off balance. "_What_." Hiei snapped when he saw him staring.

He turned back around - his sourpuss attitude hadn't changed, only worsened. They got to Yusuke's seeing him messing with some stir-fry for a customer. Thankfully, that customer just wanted to grab and go and did leaving the three to sit down. "Urameshi!"

"Kuwabara? Hey, man! Been a while..." He paused, eyes widening at Hiei. "Uh...what. Are you doing. With _them_?"

"Geez, it's not like we're holding him hostage or something!" Kuwabara whined at Yusuke's question and went to the back of his stand, pulling him along.

"What the hell?"

"Urameshi, Hiei's sick."

Yusuke raised an eyebrow. "You just now figure that out? What, he finally snapped or something - going on some horrific killing spree?" he asked snickering.

"No, I mean he's got a _cold_..."

Both his brows went up with that one and he took a better look at the dragon master. After a few seconds he turned back to his friend. "Yeah, he looks like crap. Don't worry, I'll get him something."

Kuwabara nodded and went back out front to sit. Shizuru sat in the middle of the boys to ensure no bloodshed would take place.

Keiko showed up shortly afterward and took a seat next to Kuwabara. "Hey! You showed up after all." She smiled at Shizuru. She paused and looked at Hiei. "Oh. Hello." Hiei said nothing and Keiko looked at everyone for an answer. "Uh, is this the thing you had to do today, Shizuru?"

Kuwabara, who was sipping on a soda he had bought on the way there, choked and sputtered.

"I'm not a _thing,_" Hiei finally spoke.

"And don't say 'do'!" Kuwabara yelled in between coughs. Keiko blinked and smiled at Yusuke who was bringing out a steaming bowl.

"Here you go, pal." He placed it in front of Hiei with a little grin, causing Hiei to look up at him in question.

"I didn't order anything," He stated.

"Yeah, well, this will help, trust me. It's just plain noodle soup, but it rocks," Yusuke explained, Hiei glaring at Kuwabara.

"You just _had_ to tell him."

"I would've figured it out by myself. You look pretty worn out, and your energy is low," Yusuke said walking over to Keiko.

She looked back and forth. "Huh? What's wrong with Hiei?"

"He's got a cold," Yusuke answered bluntly.

"Why don't you put it on a billboard?" Hiei spat, looking more red in the face.

"I'm surprised you know what a billboard is," Kuwabara teased. Hiei growled and Keiko made a nauseating female noise of pity.

"Aw...you should drink orange juice. It really works."

Hiei sat his cheek in his hand. "I'm in Hell."

Yusuke shook his head. "What'cha guys want?"

They made their orders and the rest of the visit went fine, Hiei even eating the soup that Yusuke had made for him. After he was finished, he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a strong headache coming on. The others were talking about some dumb thing for sale at the _mall_ but Shizuru didn't pay attention - she could sense Hiei getting worse. Without realizing, she reached over and rubbed his shoulder gently. "Hey...you okay?"

He looked up at her and, for a second, their eyes met - Shizuru feeling something pool in the pit of her stomach at how tired he looked.

His eyes moved to her hand and she removed it mumbling a "sorry" and turning back to her food. No one had ever shown concern for him before...

"So, anyway," Kuwabara continued. "I was thinkin' I'd go visit Yukina too!"

Hiei then snapped back to reality and gripped the soup bowl. This didn't go unnoticed for Yusuke and the ex-detective chuckled.

"Why don't you give it a break, man? Let her breathe."

Kuwabara frowned. "That's almost the same thing Shizuru said - why are all of you trying to keep me from Yukina?" He paused, starting to sweat. "She's...oh, God...She's not...seeing someone else is she?!" He stood up, face filled with panic. "Who is it?! I bet it's Kurama, isn't it?! With his pretty face and perfect hair! It's Kurama - oh, God, not Kurama!"

Shizuru pulled on his jacket. "Shut up and calm yourself! It isn't Kurama!"

"I don't think Kurama would even _dare_..." Yusuke mused scratching his cheek and looking at Hiei.

"Yeah, Kuwabara - Kurama's your friend! He'd never do something like that!" Keiko defended the absent red-head.

"Oh, no! You're not seeing him too, are you?" Yusuke fake-cried and Keiko huffed.

"Oh, brother."

"If it isn't Kurama, then who is it?!" Kuwabara was still in his panic induced fantasy.

"No one, okay!" Shizuru shouted. "We just don't...want you to blow it. Absence makes the heart grow fonder." Everyone looked at Shizuru in confusion, but Yusuke had a knowing glance. "I'm trying, okay?"

Hiei went to get off the seat but wouldn't ya know, now was the time for his nose to tickle. "_Hih-icshuu!_" He sneezed into his scarf, Shizuru pleased that he at least tried to be polite.

"Ew, gross!" Kuwabara flailed his hands like an idiot. "Get something!"

Yusuke laughed. "What do want me to do, make him gargle with Lysol?"

Hiei sniffed and got off the seat to walk away. "Great, now look what you did," Shizuru scolded.

"Hey Hiei, wait!" Yusuke called, going into the back and grabbing something. "This yours?" He held out a katana and Hiei's eyes widened.

"Where did you find it?" He asked as he sat back down, reaching for it like a child being given his lost puppy.

"On my way here today, I saw some kids playing with it at a park. I took it away from them so they wouldn't end up on the news, and thought it looked familiar."

Hiei nodded blankly and placed the beloved weapon in his lap.

Kuwabara rolled his eyes. "Great, now he can kill again. Whatever. I'm going to the temple, whether any of you like it or not." He slapped down his money and Keiko gasped.

"Hey, wouldn't Genkai have something for Hiei?" She asked and Hiei's eyes widened with hope.

"Oh, yeah!" Yusuke chuckled. "I bet she's got some sort of witch's brew for a cold."

"Yeah, she probably does..." Kuwabara muttered.

Shizuru turned to Hiei. "How about it, kid? What do you think?"

Hiei stood up and put his sword where it belonged. "Might as well. If she can cure this disease, I'm all for it."

"Well, have fun with that. I have to stay here," Yusuke said, a little hurt.

"Poor Yusuke, he actually has to _work_ for a living," Keiko teased. She giggled when he pursed his lips at her. "I'll stay with you." She grabbed his hand and his glare turned to a smile as they stared in each other's eyes. Kuwabara made a noise.

"Time to go before they start kissing again." The couple flashed him a look and he laughed nervously. "Wouldn't want Hiei to get sicker!" He quickly walked away and Shizuru rolled her eyes.

"Well, let's hope that Genkai can help you."

Hiei nodded. "Then I can finally be free of this."

Shizuru paused as he walked away. Was he talking about the cold...or her?

What did it matter anyway? She wanted him gone just as bad as he wanted to be gone.

Right. Totally.

* * *

They parked at a garage near the train station, so when they returned from the temple, all they had to do was walk back to the car. They approached the ticket booth and Kuwabara ordered their tickets. "Three adults, please."

The woman behind the glass looked at the two siblings and then to the shorter male behind them, raising an eyebrow. "Are...you sure about that?"

Kuwabara looked confused and looked behind him at Hiei. He soon caught on and his face began to contort.

Before he could respond, Shizuru grabbed his arm, her long nails digging past the layers of clothing, scratching him. "Not one word," she warned.

He held in his laughter and swallowed. Calmly, he answered the woman, "Yes, I'm sure."

She shrugged and punched up their tickets, Kuwabara paying swiftly for them. They walked to the waiting station and Kuwabara grumbled. "I hope you realize how hard that was for me."

"I know, baby bro. I know."

"It sucks too, 'cause I totally could have gotten _one_ of these tickets for less..."

"But that would have been dishonest, and we don't do that." She finished with an innocent smile and Kuwabara kept grumbling. She glanced behind them at Hiei who was still moving sluggishly and looking at the floor. She sighed as the train pulled in.

"At least we don't have to wait! What luck!" Kuwabara beamed as they got on.

They made their way to the seats, both Hiei and Shizuru getting window seats across from one another, and Kuwabara getting an aisle seat next to his sister. The attendant came over with a smile. "Hello. Can I get you anything?" She looked at Hiei. "You want a coloring book, little fella?"

Kuwabara's face contorted again and once more, he found nails digging in his arm. "I mean it, Kazuma... He's got his sword back." He swallowed and remained silent.

Hiei looked up at the attendant and didn't seem to understand what she was offering and actually spoke back, "You packin' heat? 'Cause I could really use one right between the eye." He pointed to his forehead and the attendant blinked.

"How about an orange juice? And an aspirin." Shizuru ordered and the attendant nodded, bowed and walked away. "Nice pun, kid."

Hiei rolled his eyes.

Kuwabara sighed as the train started in motion and pulled out his cell-phone. "Guess I'll listen to music." Before he put his ear-buds in, another female attendant came by with a glass of orange juice.

"Here you go. Oh, here..." She pulled out a plastic wrapper, something inside colored lime green. "It's a crazy straw."

"OH, GOD!" Kuwabara jumped up, running to the back.

Shizuru snickered. "Guess he really needed to go."

Hiei took the crazy straw from the woman and looked at it in confusion. "What is this?"

"It's just a straw." Shizuru took it and opened it, showing a swirly green straw. Hiei eyed it. "It might help you since drinking it fast might irritate your throat more." She held it out to him and he took it, placing it in the glass and sucking on it, cold orange juice greeting him.

Kuwabara came back to see Hiei sucking on the crazy straw looking about five years old and his face twitched, him running to the back again.

Shizuru shrugged. "Must have been something he ate."

The rest of the ride was uneventful and soon after walking and walking and _walking, _they made it to the temple stairs. Kuwabara chuckled. "Bet you've never walked up these stairs before like a_ normal_ person, huh?" Hiei said nothing, much to their surprise, and just kept walking.

They got to the top to see Yukina playing with some birds on the porch. "Yukina!"

She turned. "Oh, Kazuma! It's so nice to see you." She paused. "Mm...Hiei?" She had dropped the "Mister" recently but habit made her still almost say it.

Hiei glanced away from her and she stood up, taking a closer look at him. He looked so tired and worn down, and his energy wasn't right. "Oh, are you hurt?" She walked over to him. "Maybe I could heal you." She reached out her hands and he flinched away.

"Don't touch me!" he snapped. Yukina's face morphed to shock and then sadness, Hiei looking away even more in shame. "I...could be contagious..." he whispered.

"Hm?" She looked at the human siblings and Kuwabara placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"He's got a cold."

Yukina blinked. "How...can someone...posses a temperature?"

Shizuru smiled warmly at the ice-maiden. "It's an illness. Don't worry, it isn't that bad."

Yukina thought about it and looked relieved. "Oh...Okay." She smiled at Hiei. "I'll make you some mint tea. It'll help make you feel better." She walked back in, appearing more happy than Kuwabara had seen her be in a long time, and Genkai came out to greet them.

The older woman said her hellos to the young adults and then took a long look at Hiei. With a snort she asked, "What kicked _your_ ass?"

Hiei growled at the snickers from the humans and bristled. "I have a _disease_..." his voice dripped with loathing.

"Yeah, it's just a cold, Master Genkai." Shizuru explained. "Do you have anything that can get rid of it?"

Genkai scowled. "Unbelievable. You three traipse up here just to ask me to cure a demon's cold? Are you kidding me? If I had a cure for the common cold, I'd be a hell of a lot richer than I am."

Hiei's eyes widened. "You...don't have anything to..."

"I have herbal remedies. You want something stronger, rob a pharmacy."

"I don't believe this!" Hiei roared as much as his hoarse voice was capable of. "I come all this way, enduring a train full of dirty humans and his incessant bowel movements, walk up all those ridiculous stairs just to find out you can't do anything to help me?"

Genkai looked at him and then rolled her eyes, turning from him. "God, men are babies when they're sick."

Shizuru scoffed. "Tell me about it."

Hiei snarled and gritted his teeth. "That's it! I'm out of here." He whipped around but Shizuru stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"What? Where are you going?"

"If you think I'm going to stay here or with you a minute longer and endure this humiliation - "

"Hey! I've been trying to help you!"

He pulled his arm from her. "I don't need your help or want it!"

Kuwabara was the one growling now. "You haven't changed at all! You're still the same selfish jerk you've always been! My sister brought you into her home and took care of you and this is how you act? I oughta lay you flat right now."

Hiei apparently still had some of his speed because he flung out his sword, and the blade was at the larger male's neck. "Go ahead. Try it."

It was silent for a while and a small voice shattered it. "H-Hiei?" They all turned to see Yukina holding a tea-pot. "What are you doing?"

Her brother looked like a deer caught in headlights and brought the blade down. "I'm leaving. Don't follow me." His remark was aimed at Shizuru and he was gone - not in a flash, but still much faster than a human.

Yukina's shoulders fell and she looked down, blinking a bit.

"That little creep!" Shizuru yelled in frustration.

Kuwabara grumbled and saw Yukina appearing utterly heartbroken. "Hey, Yukina! Is that the tea? I'd love some." He smiled so gentle at her and she smiled in return.

"Oh, o-okay...I'll go get the cups." She walked back in and Kuwabara was gritting his fists.

"Now I really wanna kill him. Not only did he treat you like crap, but he hurt Yukina's feelings!" He saw that his sister was staring off into the distance and paused. "Oh...Don't tell me you're _worried_ about him?"

She snapped back to reality. "Huh? No - No way!" She flipped her hair. "Ya know what? I'm pissed - really pissed. After all I did for him, he doesn't even mutter a thanks! Ya know what, let him run off and get even sicker - he deserves it!"

"Yeah!" Kuwabara agreed.

She repeated, "Yeah!"

Genkai rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you two aren't worried, I believe it."

Both glared at the old psychic and Shizuru huffed. "I need a cigarette."

She found a tree to light under and enjoyed the stress relief. She could sense Hiei somewhere but all the apparitions in the forest was making it hard even for her advanced senses. She finished and sighed, smoke blowing all around. "Stupid kid." She walked away and didn't notice the shadow looming near-by.

* * *

After spending the day with Genkai and Yukina, the two returned home, taking showers and arguing over who would sleep on the couch and who got Kuwabara's bed, since Shizuru's was...yeah, ew. Kuwabara lost at another coin toss and it was a normal night of sleep.

For him at least. She pulled out her cell-phone and brought up the pic she took of Hiei. A humorous smile played on her lips as she studied it. He looked so...not dangerous and deadly, like she knew he could be. It was hilarious; comparing this photo to the things she felt at the tournament. How the two could be the same person seemed really unbelievable. Then she remembered how small he looked when she found him at the park.

Small and thin and..._young_... He looked painfully young in this picture too. She flipped it shut and put it on the table. "Man...this sucks..."

The next day went by without anything too important happening, and soon Kuwabara had to leave. They said goodbye and Shizuru was left alone again in her empty apartment. She sighed and plopped down on the couch. She needed to strip her bed and wash the linens from the germ-bag.

Eh, screw it - it was Sunday.

She turned on the television and flipped to the weather channel.

"_I'm predicting another day of strong rain this afternoon followed by_..."

She didn't listen to the rest of it. She could see the radar already showing a big mass of green headed for the area. She looked out the window and bit her bottom lip. No. No...don't do that...NO. He wanted to leave and he did, she wasn't gonna force him. He was an ingrate, anyway. Nope, she wasn't worried at all.

Not one tiny bit.

"_The rain will continue into the night, following a temperature drop_..."

Dammit.

He groaned as he watched these human children hurry home. He had hoped he had enough strength to get back to the Makai, but he barely had enough to get off Genkai's property. Now he was in another human park, with nothing to eat. Last night wasn't very warm and he was feeling a pressure in his chest - it almost hurt to breathe - and he was coughing a lot more and harder, feeling something rattle in his throat when he did. The temperature was going down as clouds roamed over the sky and he shivered, in spite of himself. A raindrop hit his nose and he cursed.

Not again. He was already sick, what could happen to him now?

Shizuru stood up and watched the rain fall.

It was gonna be a long day.

~TBC


	6. Now It's Serious

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH  
Continuity: English Version Anime

Cover Drawn By: GoodEnoughTheOpenDoor

"Talking"

'_Thoughts_'

* * *

Getting Soft

Chapter Six: Now It's Serious

X -x-x-x-x- X

Another thunder rumble made her suck in that nicotine even more. She blew it out with a heavy sigh. The whole time it had been raining she was just standing around, watching it. Yeah, she would act like she was flipping through the mail and looking at T.V., and then she would pace and light another butt. Her apartment hadn't been so smoky in a _long_ time. She stopped telling herself she wasn't worried - she stopped telling herself anything. All she could do was hope that the little jerk got home and wasn't out in this _again_.

Unfortunately, she was wrong.

His whole body was wracked with violent shivers as the water continued to pour. It wasn't a full thunderstorm, but the rain was heavy and thick - unrelenting. He was trying to curl himself the best he could on the branch - to try to cover his chest and hands, but it wasn't going so well. He was soaked, _again_, and he felt so heavy. He sniffled and immediately - "_Huh-ishuu!_" How pathetic he must look to anyone staring down at him from the heavens. It was so...demeaning.

However, this wasn't the first rain storm he had ever weathered; He had plenty in the Makai. But in those times, he'd find a cave to stay in, and his energy was always there to help. This time he was in a _human_ city with no caves and had misjudged how long it would rain - and was now paying the price.

He began to wonder what would happen, now that he was already sick and in these conditions. Surely, this disease couldn't get any worse, right? He sighed and the act of air rushing from his lungs made him lunge forward and cough harshly. These attacks were getting worse seemingly by the minute, and more forceful each time. He could also swear he felt...something in his chest - like something was in there. But...how? He shook his head after the fit ended and shivered some more. Oh, well. This too shall pass.

It was nearing sunset now and the rain was beginning to stop. The whole day Shizuru was in a haze, barely eating or doing anything productive. She sighed; what a sap she was being. He didn't care at all that she helped him and basically threw it in her face. No, she didn't need this. It was time to forget all about it and start doing _something_.

A nice dinner out sounded good, and now that it wasn't raining anymore she felt easier about driving. She was gonna treat herself to a _very_ good meal. She got dressed in better looking clothes - 'twas a shame that diners looked down on pajamas - and grabbed her keys.

For the first time all day, she felt carefree.

It stopped. It actually, _finally_ stopped. He lifted his head from his lap and looked around, the world blurred and distorted. He coughed, weak compared to the fits he'd been having, and looked at the ground. For some reason, it seemed higher than he thought it was when he climbed up. The ground looked like it was moving or something and he swallowed. With a groan, he tried to stand up, only to fall over and out of the tree.

As if he wasn't having enough problems, now he had a sore back! He cursed inwardly and sat up, feeling his weight come crashing down on him, pulling him back to the ground. He couldn't sit up? What was wrong with him? He felt so tired... Maybe that was it. He was just tired. No big deal - been there, done that. He forced himself to sit up and gulped a breath. His breathing was fast and shallow, as if no matter what he did, he wasn't getting enough air. He stood up, using the tree to balance and continued to pant.

It was getting dark and without the Jagan to help him, he wouldn't be able to see where he was going. He started to walk, feeling like each step was draining his energy, He wouldn't let this win. He was going to - Wait. Where was he going? He paused. No...No way. Not to..._her_.

He panted a little more and made his way to the sidewalk. He wasn't going to let this win. He wasn't going to let this win. He wasn't going to let this win. He tripped on a crack and fell right over, his hands barely able to stop it. He lay there on the sidewalk, feeling more pressure in his chest, the world spinning.

Okay, it won. Which way was her street? He picked himself up and began to walk. Hopefully, he would be able to recognize something around here.

He couldn't believe he was basically crawling back to this..._human__female_-and the fool's sister no less - for..._**help. **_Ugh, that left a bad taste in his mouth, or was that something else? He sighed and continued his journey, not letting the stares of human trash stop him.

He would have gone to Kurama, but he wasn't anywhere close to him right now. His only option, being in the state he was in, was..._her_.

She stretched and checked her watch. An hour and a half for a meal? She did order a lot. A nice juicy steak, new potatoes, and a big salad. Yeah, it would rock her wallet but it was worth it. She quickly paid, and went to her car, seeing it was fully dark now. She smiled at the first star peeking out in the sky. It smelled so crisp and clean, like the rain had washed away all her problems. She got in her car and started home.

She was rounding the corner when that same feeling came back to haunt her. It was Hiei's energy and it was lower than she had ever felt it. She looked around, but didn't see him anywhere. She pulled in the parking lot and got out, still trying to see him. The feeling was so strong now, it was choking her. In a minute, she was gonna puke up that expensive meal if it didn't stop.

Her eyes found a crumpled heap of black laying on the south side of the parking lot. She gulped and ran to it. The feeling intensified and she knew it was him. She reached him and he wasn't moving, completely sprawled out, and she could sense that it took every last drop of his energy to bring him here. She knelt to him and turned him over, his breathing ragged and troubled - he looked worse than he did when she first found him. "Hiei, you idiot..." she murmured as she picked him up, hoping she could get him up the stairs again.

When she stood, she found that same teen that was gawking at her the first time. He looked at her, then the fire demon and reached out his hands. "I'll help you." He simply said and grabbed Hiei, lifting him up bridal style and carrying him over to the entrance. Shizuru was struck dumbfounded, but followed. They made it to her floor and the teen watched as Shizuru unlocked the door, him looking at her for permission.

"Here." She motioned him in and he followed her to the bedroom, her pointing to the bed and he laying Hiei on it. "Uh, thanks..." The young boy shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah, my brother was a druggie too." He walked out shutting the door and Shizuru sighed.

"Okay..." She went to Hiei's side and checked him. He was burning up again and his breathing was in short shallow gasps. She bit her bottom lip as she felt that something was very wrong.

She braced herself and went about undressing him, no time for modesty now - besides, she had already seen him in the bathroom. She got him in some dry clothes and brought the covers up around him. He was shivering again, quite harshly, and sweating profusely. She reached out and rubbed his cheek, heat meeting her hand as if she touched a boiling pot.

She tore her hand from him and went to the other side of the room. She felt sick, like she was gonna hurl all over the place. This was bad. Very, _very_ bad. Her eyes snapped up at him coughing violently and rolling on his side, like he was trying to stop it. She went back to him and settled him on his back again.

Okay, this was too much for her to handle - she wasn't a nurse! She grabbed her phone and dialed the only person she could turn to now.

* * *

He looked up from his book as his cell vibrated on the desk. He picked it up, surprised to see Shizuru calling. He hadn't talked to her in a while. "Hello?"

'Kurama? I need your help. I don't know what to do.' Her speech was quick and panicked, much unlike her.

His brows furrowed at that. "Shizuru? What's wrong?"

'I really screwed up.' She sounded forlorn and he put his book down on the desk.

"What happened?"

'I...it's Hiei.' Now Kurama was standing. What could Shizuru be doing with Hiei? 'I don't know if Yusuke told you, 'cause he tells everything, but Hiei's been sick and I kinda took him in. But the stupid kid ran away in the rain today and now he's even worse. I'm...getting a bad feeling, Kurama...I don't know what to do...'

He put his finger to his chin in thought. The whole thing seemed highly unlikely but Shizuru wouldn't lie. If she was getting a bad feeling from this then Hiei's health must be in jeopardy. He sighed heavily. "I'll be right there. Don't worry. Just keep him calm."

'He's out cold.'

He swallowed and started grabbing various plants and herbs. "Then you stay calm. I'll be right over."

'Thanks...'

He shut off the phone and began to gather together anything at all that Hiei might need. There was no telling what was wrong with him or what disease he was suffering from. He slipped on his jacket and made his way downstairs, his mother greeting him. "Shuichi? What's wrong?"

He spun around, his hand on the doorknob and berated himself. "Mother... I was just heading out."

"It's almost eight. Not that that's too late for a man your age, but..." She had worry on her face and he sighed.

"One of my friends is needing my assistance in something. I really do need to go quickly. I'll try to be back as soon as I can," he assured and she nodded.

"Of course, son. Be careful - the streets are wet." He kissed her on the cheek and made his way out to the car. She watched as he pulled away, looking very concerned. "I hope his friend is alright..."

* * *

Shizuru was back to pacing again as she waited for the human fox to arrive. Man, she really messed up this time. She should have just...knocked him out or something...or...something...

"Argh!" She pulled her hair. This wasn't _her_ fault - it was _**his**_! Stupid, stubborn, ignorant, temperamental, always trying to be cool, emo little imp!

And then he started coughing again.

She plopped down on the couch and put her head in her hands. Why, oh, why did she even care? It wasn't like she even _knew_ the guy. "Because I'm a wonderful person and I care about all lifeforms - no matter how dumb they are."

She jumped up at the doorbell and answered, gasping at how worried Kurama looked. He said nothing as she let him in and guided him to the bedroom. Kurama's face was nothing but pure shock at his shorter friend's state. He began to look him over and Shizuru watched as Kurama checked his temperature, only with his hands to guide him. He then lay an ear over Hiei's mouth to check his breathing, eyes widening and then becoming serious. He rose up and icily calm said, "He has pneumonia."

She blinked a few times. "How can you be sure?"

"Because I can hear the fluid." Kurama stated as he began pulling several plants from his hair. Shizuru didn't ask what he was doing, only watched as he picked up a seed, it blooming in his hand. "Do you have a coat rack, or something like that?" She nodded and went to the living room closet. She never used it, due to how ugly it was, but couldn't get rid of it...because of who bought it...

She came back in seeing Kurama making some sort of paste in his hands, working vigorously. "Uh..."

"Please place it on his left side." She then noted that Hiei had been moved; now he was on the left side of the bed, no blankets around him, and his left arm exposed. She did as she was told with the coat rack and Kurama came over. He took the flower he had bloomed and opened the bud, scooping the paste he had been making inside. He raised his energy and the plant grew some more, a long stem stretching down from the bud. He sat the flower on the coat rack, settling it so it wouldn't fall, and brought the stem over to Hiei's arm.

Shizuru caught on. "An I.V.?"

"The best I could do on short notice. He's too sick to eat it and I need the medicine to get into his bloodstream as quickly as possible." His energy fluctuated again, the stem forming a sharp point as he grasped Hiei's arm and stuck it in. Once he had it situated, he checked the flower and seemed to be activating whatever it was supposed to do. "It's an Olfuriom. It's stem can suck nutrients for days after being cut, but it can only feed once it's emptied all nutrients out of its own body." Kurama pointed to the bud going down the stem into Hiei's arm.

"That's pretty good. Is there anything you can't do?" she asked with a little smile.

He looked at her. "I can't get the liquid off his lungs." Her face fell. "I can only hope the medicine helps and he coughs it up on his own. If not...then we might have to consider a Spirit World hospital."

"Spirit World has hospitals?"

Kurama shrugged. "Odd, I know, but they do. They're mostly for anyone who gets injured from pursuing a demon criminal." She nodded and sighed in slight relief.

"Okay, so, now what?"

Kurama brought the covers up around the shivering Jaganshi. "Now...we wait."

A light ringing made Shizuru jump. She reached for her phone and answered with a sigh. "Hey, bro...You'll never guess what's happened now..." She left the room explaining no doubt to Kuwabara what had happened and Kurama was left alone with his former teammate.

It was silent before Kurama spoke, watching as Hiei's face twitched in discomfort. "You foolish boy..."

Kurama never did say his opinion of Hiei's age to his face, for he knew what the reaction would be, but he always knew that Hiei was young, probably no more than the other two teens they knew. He shook his head and glanced at the clock - it was eight thirty now and he listened to Shizuru argue with her brother. Something about him being an idiot. Kurama rolled his eyes.

They were _all_ children, really.

* * *

She was about to smash that alarm clock into teeny, tiny pieces. Its ticking was like a mocking voice, taunting her in the passage of time. Not even her E-Reader could distract her right now. Although the story was getting good, what with the female warrior about to slay the love of her life, not knowing it was him.

She lay in the bed next to Hiei, propped up on a pillow and Kurama was in a simple folding chair next to the plant I.V. he had fashioned. He was reading an actual book, but every few minutes he would check to make sure everything was working properly.

The only sounds other than pages flipping and that damn ticking, was Hiei's breathing. Still short and shallow, like he had a whole anvil on his chest.

Shizuru clicked for the next page and read as the lovely princess thrust her sword into her enemy, his helmet falling off, revealing he was in fact her lover, her screaming wildly as the blood - why was she reading this crap?

Her thoughts were distracted as a helpless sound cut through the air like a knife; a moan. She looked over at the fire apparition seeing him in distress, his head tilting as he moaned again, then settled still though he kept breathing heavily. She stared at him a while feeling like something was gonna burst.

"He does that." She looked up at Kurama, blinking at his calm statement. "Though usually, it's when he's weakened or injured." He flipped a page, uncrossing one leg and recrossing another. "He also talks in his sleep a lot."

Shizuru raised an eyebrow. "And you know this because you sleep together all the time?" She felt she needed some humor, and she got it as Kurama looked up from his book incredulously.

"When we first met...he was injured," he explained, not wanting to get into full detail. "I patched him up in my room, allowing him to sleep. I found all this out then. Also, at the Dark Tournament, we shared a room while Kuwabara and Yusuke shared another." A ghost of a smile played on his lips. "I realized the reason he doesn't talk during the day is because he uses it all up at night. Quite the chatterbox."

Shizuru chuckled. "How _did_ you get any sleep?"

Kurama tilted his head. "I made some earplugs." He stood up and checked the plant again, moving the vine so more liquid could get into the sick demon's arm. He sat back down with what looked like a grimace and Shizuru leaned forward.

"Hey, you wanna lay here or something? That chair can't be comfortable."

Kurama shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm fine where I am." She blew out some air - he was always so darn polite. She swore; his butt could be on fire and he'd be assuring everyone that he was fine. That image reached her mind and she bit back a laugh. Turning her attention to the story again, she read as the poor warrior princess held her loves' lifeless body, cursing at the heavens. Was there a point to this story? Perhaps that you can destroy what you love most. Another moan made her look over at the small boy beside her. Maybe that's why he refused to tell Yukina...

It had been an hour since the medicine had been administered into Hiei and Kurama's phone began to vibrate. He looked at it and frowned. "I figured I wouldn't be here long..." He flipped it open and answered. "Mother?"

'Shuichi? I know I'm not supposed to worry, but it's almost ten o' clock at night. Is your friend okay?'

Kurama looked over at Hiei and there wasn't any real improvement. "I'm...not sure..."

'Oh, I see.'

It went silent and Kurama sighed. "I can come home, though." Shizuru looked concerned and Kurama held the phone away. "There isn't much more I can do right now," he whispered to her.

Back to the phone he heard, 'Oh, but if you're sure...'

"Yes, it would be best. I'll be home soon, mother."

'Alright.' After they said goodbye, Kurama stood up, stretching his legs.

"Sorry about this, but there really isn't more I can do right now. It's up to Hiei's own strength to heal him." He snapped his book shut and added, "But call me is anything happens - I will handle my mother."

Shizuru nodded and walked him out with another "thank you." She sighed heavily and went to the bedroom, feeling more alone now than ever. What was she supposed to do if the medicine didn't work? It wasn't that he was just a "member of the team" or something - he was friends with all of them and Yukina's brother. What would happen if he died on her watch? Would anyone forgive her? Would she forgive herself? Sure, it wasn't her fault, but still...

She got beside him again and reached for her story. She didn't want to finish this one and switched to the naughty maid and the naïve gardener. Yeah, that would help distract her.

Apparently it was super boring, as she was shocked awake by a screaming voice beside her. She bolted up, her reader flying to the floor with a loud clatter as she reached for Hiei, who was thrashing on the bed. "Hey! Calm down!" She tried to hold him down and realized he was still asleep. He was blazing hot, soaked with sweat and had pulled the I.V. out of his arm. "Damn it!" She straddled him and grabbed his head, trying to wake him. "Wake up, honey - wake up!" His eyes snapped open and she noticed they were dilated heavily and smaller than normal. She gasped as he growled at her.

"LET ME GO!" he raged, wriggling his body under her, but she held firm and continued to attempt to calm him. "Let me go! I have to find her! I can't find her!" he rambled and her eyes widened.

"Yu...Yukina?" she asked and his eyes went even wider.

"How do you know her?! Do you know where she is?! Tell me! Where is she?!" He began to pull on her hands and she felt her hold on him lessening and fought back, her legs gripping his waist.

"She's at the temple, remember?!" she shouted and he kept fighting her.

"WHAT TEMPLE?!" he screeched and began coughing violently, the rattle of fluid clearly audible. She realized he was having a fever induced panic-attack and didn't remember anything correctly. She let him go to find something to calm him when he threw himself off the bed and onto the floor. He managed to pull himself up, still hacking uncontrollably, and she ran to him with her phone in her hand.

"Hiei, please, it's okay..." She reached for him and he pushed her away, or tried to with his limited strength.

"You don't understand! I can't find her! After all I've been through - I can't find her!" Shizuru bit her lip and flipped her phone open.

"I know where she is!" she pleaded at him. "I know where she is!"

His eyes snapped open at her words and he grabbed her wrist. "Show me! Take me to her!"

She pulled up a picture on her phone. She had managed on her visit yesterday to snap one of Yukina, without the ice maiden knowing due to her fear of photography. "Look, here she is!" She showed him the screen and he eyed it suspiciously.

"This is a trick..." he growled low.

"No, it isn't, Hiei - look! Look at her! She's happy and safe, playing with the birds." The pic showed Yukina indeed playing with the birds at the temple, a gentle, innocent smile on her face.

He studied the image in front of him, slightly calming, his shoulders easing down. "She's...happy?"

Shizuru nodded, feeling she was finally getting somewhere. "Yeah, she's happy."

"And safe...?"

"Yeah, real safe. That temple is in the middle of nowhere and no one can get to her. Plus, there's a whole bunch of really strong guys that'll kill anybody who even looks at her wrong." He looked up at her, his pupils beginning to get a little larger as his panic subsided. "She's okay. Really..." she soothed and he fell forward with a moan. She lifted him up back onto the bed, as he started coughing again, really hard. He sat up, trying to get relief and she rubbed his back as he coughed up something in his mouth. "Uh..." She grabbed a tissue quickly. "Spit it out." He did on command and the tissue was filled with yellow slime. "I guess the medicine is working..."

He fell back with a groan, panting still. The coat rack was on the floor and she remembered that Kurama said the stuff could be eaten. She she grabbed the flower and opened the bud, seeing a little bit of paste still in it. She scooped it out with her fingers and went over to Hiei. "Here, eat this." He looked confused and she added, "Eat this or Yukina will be sad. You don't want that, do you?" He looked at the green solvent in her hand and opened his mouth. She basically fed him with her fingers all the leftover medicine and he swallowed, scowling at the foul flavor. "I'll get you some water." She left and got him a glass of water, coming back to find him unconscious again. She sighed as she sat the glass on a table on her side of the bed. She fell on the mattress and sighed again, long and hard. "Oh, man..."

* * *

The next morning Shizuru woke, immediately checking on Hiei who was still asleep. She sighed seeing his temperature was lower and ran a hand through her hair. She went to the kitchen to make some coffee and sighed heavily. This was harder than she thought it was gonna be. Sure, she didn't think it was gonna be a cake-walk, what with it being Hiei and all, but she certainly didn't think it would be this! Originally, she was just going to offer him a warm place to stay until the rain stopped, and then maybe just deal with him until he was well. But literally being his nurse was difficult. She'd much rather him be awake and alert, arguing with her - being a total pain in the caboose.

Her coffee began to permeate the whole apartment and she inhaled it deep. Her phone rang and she saw it was Kurama, bright and early, calling - presumably to check on Hiei, of course.

"Hey..."

'How is everything?'

"Well..." She preceded to explain what happened and how she had fed the last of the medicine to him and Kurama responded by saying that should be good enough. "It was really sad...the whole Yukina thing..."

'Yes...it would appear his memories were in the past in his feverish state. For the longest time, he had no idea where she was...'

"What do you mean?"

It went silent as she poured herself a cup, stirring in some sugar. She didn't care for cream - took from the flavor of coffee - but sugar gave it some pep. 'He found Yukina in Human World when he first came here. But after a while...he couldn't find her anymore. It would seem Tarukane had her far longer than any of us thought.' Shizuru was blowing on her coffee and gasped at this information.

'He couldn't find her because Tarukane had seals over her room, to block out psychics. So, for the longest time he had no idea where she was...or if she was alive.'

"How long?" She asked, taking a sip.

'For as long as I knew him...Yusuke defeated him...then Yusuke's training...the Saint Beasts...over a year at least.'

"What?!" Shizuru almost spilled her scalding hot drink all over herself. "He went over a year without knowing his sister was alive or dead? How did he not go insane?"

A pause and an intake of breath. 'He did.'

Shizuru blinked. "What?"

'I"m not sure what you know, because Yusuke hasn't talked about it, but our first introduction wasn't a pleasant one. Hiei and I, along with another man, stole some artifacts from Spirit World - very dangerous artifacts. Hiei was going to...I'm not quite sure what he was planning, but part of his rage was fueled by not being able to find Yukina. I'm not sure if I should divulge any more to you.'

"I understand if you don't wanna tell me more. It's none of my business," she stated, lighting a cigarette to go with that coffee. "Thanks though. I'll know what to do if it happens again."

'You seemed to handle it fine this last time. As long as he knows she's safe.'

"Yeah."

A voice in the background called him. 'I better go. Please, be careful. I could come by later?'

"Nah, not unless you want to. I can handle it." Maybe it was the potent combination of caffeine and nicotine, but she was feeling a lot more confidant now.

'I see. Well, perhaps I will. Talk to you later.'

"Yeah, thanks, Kurama." They hung up and she took another drag and sip. "Mm..." Why did this junk taste so good? She went over to the couch and stretched her legs on the coffee table. Taking some time to enjoy her "breakfast," she simply savored the silence.

She looked over at the entertainment center and saw that one of her photo albums was upside down. She got up and pulled it out, that darn piece of paper falling out. She sighed as she opened the album and put it back where it belonged...but not before she looked at the clipping again.

Why did she always look?

He was standing in a room, what looked like a human kitchen, as a loud ringing sound was emanating through it. In instinct, his body moved forward to grab for a human device; a phone. It was as if he wasn't in control of his body as he grabbed the phone and answered. "H-Hello?" His voice was his own but it still didn't feel right.

A panicked voice on the other end started to tell him that his parents were in an accident and that they were dead. His brows furrowed. He didn't have any parents, so what did that mean?

But then something else started to happen. His nose started to burn, the feeling shooting up to his eyes, which started to blur and become heavy with something. He tried to blink it away, but it wasn't working at all as his eyes filled to the brim with what felt like liquid, it eventually spilling out onto his face. He opened his mouth and the only thing that came out was a moan followed by a sharp gasp. What was happening to him? His legs gave out and he fell to the ground, shaking and gasping, the phone slipping from his hands and swinging by the cord.

He couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. The pain was unbearable, spreading through his chest and falling to his stomach, his face contorting into something indescribable as he gasped and shuddered.

He suddenly felt his spirit separate from his body and floated to the ceiling, seeing a young woman sobbing on the floor, her head in her hands. "_No_..._NO_..._!_" She wailed in her misery and he felt his hand reach out, but he couldn't get to her.

His eyes shot awake with a gasp, seeing the woman staring at him. She was looking concerned and he blinked a few times, trying to focus. The girl in the dream had the same hair color as the woman before him. It couldn't be...

"Hiei...are you okay?" she asked, her eyes brimming with worry. "You were crying in your sleep."

~TBC


	7. Human Emotions Suck

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH  
Continuity: English Version Anime

Cover Drawn By: GoodEnoughTheOpenDoor

"Talking"

'_Thoughts_'

* * *

Getting Soft

Chapter Seven: Human Emotions Suck

X -x-x-x-x- X

He blinked his eyes a few times, feeling wetness on his face - meaning the woman was telling the truth - but he didn't dwell on that. He was reeling at the fact that he was in her home again, not outside like he last remembered. "Wha...where..." His throat felt so dry and it was hard to get out a single sound, but she seemed to know the question he was trying to ask.

"I found you passed out in the parking lot...you were worse than the first time." He raised an eyebrow, though just barely. She shrugged. "I guess you like the rain."

He swallowed and looked around, his eyes still not clear and focused - which was understandable. Soon, they trailed to the floor and widened at the coat rack and the interesting flower laying beside it. After a few seconds of staring, his gaze snapped back up to her, an accusing fire in them.

"Oh, I forgot to clean that up..." He continued to glare and she sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Yeah, Kurama was here." His eyes narrowed even more and she glared right on back. "What? I did what I had to. You have pneumonia." His eyes widened, brows shooting up in surprise.

"That's not possible," he stated, his voice a little more clear.

"Yeah, well, Kurama said you do. You want me to call him so you can tell him he's wrong?" He blew out some air looking away from her and she smirked. Though it quickly faded as he erupted into another coughing fit.

He immediately sat up, trying to get relief and she came to him, hearing the junk rattle inside him. With a grimace, she watched as he hacked something up in his mouth, panic filling his face. "Uh..." She looked around and didn't have anything...but her coffee cup. "Oh, crap, just spit it in here." He looked at her in question as she held it out to him, but did so quickly. With a groan, she looked inside the cup and sat it on the table next to him. "Yeah, you can keep that for a while."

He panted and wiped his mouth, still coughing a little. "So, what now? This is a new illness?" he bit out harshly.

"You still have a cold - as far as I know - it's just gotten worse. That's what happens when you don't _listen_ and let people _**help**_ you." He glared up at her and she returned the gesture, the two just shooting fire at each other.

And then the doorbell rang.

Both broke eye contact and she huffed. "Try not to fall out of the bed again." She stated as she walked out to answer it. He crossed his arms, resembling a pouting child as he went to lay back on the pillow. He began coughing some more and took the pillows, propped them up and sat back on them. Apparently, he couldn't lay down anymore. How irritating.

He blinked.

Wait - when did he care about that? He always sat up when he slept outside - very rarely did he actually lay down, let alone in a bed. This illness was making him weak, in more than one way. He sighed and wiped the rest of his face, feeling rather embarrassed at that. Images of the dream came back but he pushed them away. What did he care? He didn't - not at all. Not his problem.

Nope.

His not caring was interrupted as Kurama came walking in, with somewhat of a sly smile on his face. Oh, how he would love to dragon flame his butt right now. "What," he flatly stated as Kurama looked him over.

"Glad to see you're doing better, Hiei."

"Hn." Kurama rolled his eyes and sat next to Hiei on the edge of the bed. "Don't touch me," he growled and Kurama shook his head.

"Honestly Hiei, like I would do anything with Shizuru standing here." Hiei's eyes got wide as saucers and she chuckled, Kurama sharing a giggle at his face.

"Not funny," the shorter male spat, looking more angry as he shrunk against the pillow.

"Now, now, I do need to see how you're doing. We wouldn't want you to perish from such a simple thing," Kurama eased as he touched Hiei's neck, feeling for his temperature. The fire apparition pursed his lips but said nothing as the fox continued fussing over him.

"Open your mouth," he asked and Hiei looked at him like he was nuts. "I want to see if you have any swollen glands. Open your mouth." Poor, tortured Hiei sighed and did so, feeling a wooden stick touch his tongue, and suddenly Kurama had a small flashlight, shining it into his mouth. He grunted in question but Kurama didn't respond to it. After a few seconds of looking, he removed the stick.

"Hmm, you seem fine there. Okay, you can close your mouth now." Hiei snapped it shut and was met with the light shining in his eyes.

"Hey!"

"Relax - I'm making sure your reflexes are working properly."

"I'll show you they are!" Hiei grabbed the flashlight and Kurama sighed heavily, moving off the bed.

"He'll be fine," he blankly stated to Shizuru, who was having trouble not laughing. "But I still want him to take this." He held out a bag of powder and she took it.

"More green stuff?"

Kurama smiled gently. "Yes, just mix it in with a hot drink. It should work just fine."

"I got lemon tea he seems to like - is that okay?" Kurama nodded and she nodded back, another smile playing at her lips. "You're so...are you studying to be a doctor or something?"

Kurama grinned wide, more than she'd ever seen him do. "Yes, actually. Once I'm done with college, I'm going into medical school." Shizuru gasped.

"That's amazing. I bet you'll blaze past all of them."

Kurama shrugged, almost appearing shy at her praise. "I'm not infallible. But I will do my very best."

"Please," she slapped his shoulder. "I bet you'll find a cure for cancer." Her eyes widened. "Oh, crap. I bet you really could. Oh, man, I could _know_ the guy who cures cancer!" They shared a lighthearted chuckle, not noticing the piercing glare from the smaller boy on the bed.

As he watched them converse, he began to notice this...fire in his stomach. It wasn't pleasant at all, and was filling up to his chest, his breathing becoming heavy with it. As they laughed together, the fire erupted, drawing a growl out of him. They turned to look at him and he scoffed. "It's a good thing I'm not here so you can act like I'm not." Shizuru looked confused and then pissed, but Kurama's eyes twinkled with something that told Hiei he'd better shut up.

"I see," he simply stated and began to walk out. "He should be fine in a few days, as long as he drinks _all_ of it," his voice raising at "all." He glanced at Shizuru, and she could see humor dancing in his green orbs, her raising an eyebrow at that. "Don't worry about him," he said and opened the front door.

"Thanks..._again_."

"No problem." They said goodbye and Shizuru turned to the bedroom, going in to see Hiei lost in what appeared to be deep thought.

What the hell was that? He...felt something at them...laughing and carrying on. Like he didn't want them to be. But why would he give a damn? They could mate for all he cared - it wasn't his concern. What the hell was going on? Surely not...anything significant. It was just another symptom of this disease. Yes, that was it.

"Hey." He looked up and she was running a hand through her hair again. "You wanna try some food?" He felt himself nodding and she smiled back. She actually _smiled_...at _**him**_.

And then there was another flash of fire in his stomach, though this one felt completely different. It wasn't as uncomfortable as the last one - though it was still...odd - not pleasant, but not entirely _un_pleasant...

Wretched disease and stupid symptoms.

* * *

She was gonna pump him with so many vitamins, it wasn't even going to be funny. A nice, hearty beef stew, filled with vegetables. Not the greatest breakfast, but he probably didn't think of things like that. She poured it out into the heated pot, stirring and smiling to herself. Why was she smiling so much lately? This wasn't exactly the most fun she'd ever had - it had basically been a disaster. But she found herself smiling all the same, making soup for the little fella in her bed.

Wait, what?

He blinked as a piping bowl of soup was placed in front of him, the smells reaching his nose, which he noticed was working better. Then he looked at the hot mug beside the bowl. "It's that lemon tea. With Kurama's medicine? You gotta drink it all." Much to her surprise, he didn't say anything, and reached for the bowl, seeming to enjoy the scent coming off of it. He grabbed the spoon and he took a bite, no emotion on his face as he chewed and swallowed. She couldn't tell if he liked it by his facial expression, but his actions told her all she needed as he spooned in bite after bite.

She sat down on the other side of the bed, feeling more relief at the fact that he was alert and awake, seeming to get better. Hopefully, there would be no more setbacks.

They sat in silence, the only sound was the spoon scraping the bowl, and the occasional sip he'd take from the mug. "Can you taste the medicine?" she asked. He shook his head and swallowed, going back to the soup. "Good." It went quiet again, awkward and slow. He finished with a small burp, downing the tea with vigor and she noticed he had color in his cheeks again.

"Feel up for another shower or...?" she asked, and he looked at her, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"I guess." His face contorted. "Just as long as I can actually have it _alone_..."

She laughed softly. "Yeah, no. He's not coming back. And I'm not expecting company."

"Really? Because so far, your home has been like a bus station lately."

"Sheesh, just Kazuma and Kurama - and the reason Kurama came over was because of _you_." She poked him in the arm and he glared at her, though the threat behind it wasn't as strong as she knew it could be. In fact, she swore she saw a blush... It was kinda cute...

_**BUT **_- no.

She cleared her throat and picked up the tray of empty dishes. "Well, get to it then. I'll get you some fresh clothes." She stood up and went to the kitchen, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

So, Kurama was over here because of him only? "Hmm..." He grunted, swinging his feet off the bed. He felt pretty sluggish still and shuffled his feet out to the bathroom, saying nothing to her as he closed the door. He glanced in the mirror and groaned. Yeah, he definitely needed a shower - he looked like he had just been drug through some forests of Alaric and left for dead in a pile of his own excrement. And that was putting it nicely.

Still feeling wobbly, he got undressed and stepped in - perhaps it was better if he just took another bath. Falling in a human shower and breaking his neck was not how he planned to die.

After the dishes were done, she laid out new clothes for him. This time she had a gray tee and dark blue sweat pants.

Placing them on the bed, she turned to see him standing in the doorway with nothing but a towel on. Her eyes widened, but only for a moment. Yeah, she should have put these in the bathroom, but she didn't want to be rude and walk in on him.

His hair was down a little - clumped and unruly, due to being damp - but he did look better in the face; More alert and his eyes were clear. Whatever was in that stuff Kurama made, he'd probably be well in a matter of days. Her stomach fell, and she exhaled.

That was a_ good _thing, right? Yeah, all he had done was cause her trouble. She was happy he'd be gone.

Totally happy.

Her thoughts were shattered as he inhaled sharply, bringing a hand up to his face, eyes snapping shut. She was going to ignore him when her eyes trailed down to his bare torso.

She didn't need to know that when a well built man sneezes, his abs twitch. That his biceps flex, and pretty much every other muscle in his overly toned body. Well, she did now. And now the image was burned into her corneas.

He felt her breeze past him at a speed he thought no human could possess. He even felt the wind hit his face. He shrugged and went for the clothes she put on the bed, while Shizuru had a heart-attack in the living room.

That was really dumb. She was a grown woman, dammit, not some high school idiot drooling over the first buff guy in her path. '_Stupid, stupid, stupid._' And what was more stupid, she ran straight through his sneeze! Now _she_ needed a shower! She growled and ran to the bathroom.

Yeah, a nice cold one.

When she was done and dressed, she came out to see Hiei fumbling with the remote. He had learned how to use it and was flipping through the channels like a pro. Unfortunately, he wasn't finding anything to his liking. She shook her head humorously, and plopped down beside him. "Not finding anything?" He shot her a sideways glance and she chuckled. "Here." She took the remote and changed to the channel that was airing her stories. She was sure Hiei would _love_ those.

"_I was never able to say it before. When I almost lost you, it changed me. I know now, I could never live without you. I love you with all my heart and soul, Kimiko. Please, marry me._"

His mouth was hanging open, a look of utter horror on his face. "What the ff - "

"Yeah, I know it's cheesy, but this one is pretty cool. It's about the mob. Sometimes they shoot each other and blow each other up."

He turned to her. "This is worse than the fake fighting. I am _not_ enduring this." He grabbed the remote, just as she did.

"I'm not going through this again with you, Hiei. Let go."

"_No._"

"Dammit, kid - "

"I'm not a _kid_!"

"Then quit acting like one!"

They were pulling back and forth once more on the poor, pathetic control, the television changing channels rapidly.

"_You need_ - _juicy, savory_ - _wetness_ - _all at half price!_"

"Did that really just happen?" Shizuru commented, failing slightly on her tugging. Hiei took the opportunity and ripped the remote away. "Hey!"

"Ha! Fair and square, woman." He held it in his hand, toying with her, teasing her like he was so big and bad and she was weak and pathetic.

Oh, he was _so_ gonna get it now.

"Grrahh!" She tackled him to the floor, the force making the boards creak. She pulled on his arm that still held the remote, both of them yanking on the other. She pulled it out of his hand, only to have it sail through the air, hit the floor and fall apart - the battery door flying off and batteries rolling away. They laid in silence as her eyes widened and she growled. She stood up and clenched her fists. "If that's broken, I'm gonna kick your ass!"

"Heh. Like you could touch me," he challenged.

She narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Even in my..._diminished_ state, you couldn't hurt me. You think you can only because your brother is pathetic. I am not your brother. Come at me, and I'll fight back."

She inhaled deep through her nose; an attempt to calm herself that wasn't working. Her head reeled with ways to get him now.

It was true if she went at him that way, he would fight back and it would end up very ugly. So, how could she get him without it turning into a bloodbath? She grinned when a naughty thought came to her, one she had logged away in the beginning of this mess.

And his feet were still bare.

She let out a primal roar as she jumped on his legs - him gasping in surprise since he definitely wasn't expecting such a brash action. She gridlocked one of his ankles with as much speed and force she could before he could stop her, and began her assault.

His eyes shot open wide. This...was an attack? Was she trying to attack him with this? Odd, and yet, it felt...he had no idea what it felt like. It wasn't..._painful_...but...it didn't... and it was running up his leg...skin tingling...it...it...GAH, MAKE HER STOP!

His leg jumped back and gyrated from her, but she held firm as she continued fiercely dancing her fingers over the bare flesh of his foot, knowing any second he'd get free and do something to her for it.

He managed to flip over on his side and pull his foot away from her, so she decided to change up her game and jump on his waist. Turning him to his back and holding him in place, she figured if his feet were sensitive, the rest of him might be.

She viciously grinned.

He gasped as he felt her hands go under his shirt and was about to demand why she would do such an invasive act, when that _feeling_ came back, and this time it was all over his stomach. One foot was bad enough, but now she was running those _damned_ fingers all over his midsection, not missing a single inch.

She kept waiting for him to respond, to break, if only _just_ a little...

"STOP IT!" And that was it - there it was - the moment of her victory. But, that was not enough. No, she must teach him a very deep lesson. She laughed and assaulted him harder, moving her talented digits up his chest, under his arms.

He gasped again, rolling over, trying to get away from her. "Stop!" His voice had lost the fervor of his last plea, but the panic was evident. "S-Stop it!"

She _really_ went for it now, hearing his resolve crack. Just a little more and maybe she could get another reaction out of him. Yes, now her goal had changed.

He had no idea what in the three worlds was going on, all he knew was that he wanted it to stop. No, it was not painful, not at all, but this feeling was overpowering him somehow and that was not acceptable. How could _anything_ overpower _**him**_?

It was such a different sensation, his skin was electrified from it, goosebumps raising all over his flesh. It truly didn't feel _bad_ per-se, but it wasn't_ good_, right?

Also, he was beginning to feel like he wanted to react audibly somehow, a rising urge in his chest just _trying_ to burst through him. But it wasn't a scream or anything close to it.

It couldn't be...

She wasn't letting up, she wasn't giving in to his protests - she would stay the course until she got what she wanted. '_Come on...come on...laugh! Dammit, laugh!_' she pleaded inside of herself. A tiny image of that baby falling entered her mind. '_Just once...just once..._'

And then the glass broke.

The final wall shattered before her as she heard a deep rumbling vibrate in his chest and exit out of his mouth. A loud barking, gasping for life as he continued to squirm under her. It wasn't dark, or threatening, like she had heard before, but unrestrained, almost joyous. His eyes shut and mouth upturned, he finally let go and laughed under her, still foolishly pleading for her to stop.

His laughter was like music to her ears and she found it infectious as she too started laughing with him, a lot harder than she had in a long time. Soon, she found it hard to keep up her movements and stopped, collapsing on him, both of them just _laughing_ like there was no tomorrow.

It eventually died down of course, the two of them panting and gasping for breath, and she rose up to look him in the face. At first he looked amused, then his expression contorted to confusion and then finally shock. She swallowed her thick saliva and got up, walking over to where the remote had been flung.

She sighed and picked it up and put it back together, changing the channel back to her show.

He sat up, his shocked face morphing to anger - no, not anger, fury. "So..." his voice snarled, sending a chill through her. "All that just to get your _toy_ back...I should have known." He stood up, bitter resentment in his eyes and she registered what he was thinking.

He let go. He actually let go and allowed himself to_ feel_ something. And he thought it happened because she was using him. He thought she was just trying to get one over on him.

Oh, man...

"Hiei..."

"Pfft." He began to walk away from her and she found herself failing in what to say to him. She had finally made _some_ sort of progress and now it was gone as quickly as it had came.

"Come on, it's not like that." He said nothing, all walls coming up, and probably new ones at that, continuing to walk away. "You're just mad you let go for once."

He whipped around and bore his blood-red gaze into her. "_What_."

"You let go and allowed yourself to _feel_ something that wasn't anger or hate, and it scares you." She stated just as plain as can be, forcing him to become more angry, if possible.

"I don't feel anything, let alone fear," he clipped out, making her scoff.

"That's the biggest load I've ever heard."

"Tch." He turned from her again and she sighed, looking at the floor.

"I know what they did to you."

He froze, his shoulders arching up, tense muscles flexing in his back. He faced her, mouth opening, growling softly - not in a predatory way, but in a way that suggested he was about to blow if she said anything more. "What did you just say?"

She blinked. She was already in ten foot deep water, might as well drown. "I know what they did to you. I saw it."

"Saw _what?_" he demanded.

"I saw _them_, Hiei. Those _women_...I saw what they did."

His eyes widened at her confession, but quickly morphed to hate again. "You..."

"It was an accident, I think. I don't know. Maybe your third eye went haywire, or maybe it's my spirit awareness. Sometimes I get premonitions and visions. But I saw it just the same. I saw them toss you off the cliff - "

"Shut _up_." He was shaking with fury.

She sauntered on, not stopping. "I saw what they called you, what they thought of you. I saw everything. And what's more, I saw it from_ your_ eyes."

He paused, a barely audible gasp entering his lungs. From his eyes? That sounded like...what he experienced last night. But...how?

It didn't matter. None of it mattered. "You know_ nothing,_" he bit out harshly. "I suggest you keep your ridiculous _visions_ to yourself."

She sucked in her lips a bit. "You think you're the only one who's felt pain? You think nobody else knows what it's like to close yourself off to feeling anything, becoming a stone wall?"

He looked away from her. Well, of course he knew that - Mukuro showed him that. But this simple _human_ could not know anything of his pain.

And then that dream came back.

He swallowed. In the dream, he felt what she had felt. It was overwhelming, quite unlike the hollow, dead pain he had felt in his life. It was...horrific actually. Perhaps because he, himself had never been through something like that. He had never loved and lost. The _very_ closest was watching Sensui kill Yusuke, and even _that_ could not compare to the dream.

In fact, the dream was the first time he'd ever cried in his life.

He sighed heavily and continued to look away from her. She tilted her head. "I know you know," she stated. He glanced up. "My photo album was upside down - I'd never do that."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he spat, feeling like all he wanted to do was run a million miles to the nearest forest.

"I know you looked at it, Hiei. Not only was it upside down, there were chocolate fingerprints all over it." She finished with a small smirk and he turned from her again, crossing his arms. "You can't tell me you didn't look at it."

"Again, I have no idea what you're talking about, nor do I care."

She nodded to herself. Okay, he was being this way again, big surprise. "It was raining." She began with a sigh, Hiei slowly meeting her eyes. "I was only fifteen. They left me alone for the first time at home. Like, it was a right of passage or something. They were just going to get some groceries..." She took in a big breath. "They swerved to avoid something in the road - no one knows what it was - and right into oncoming traffic. They flipped their car and died instantly. Both of them gone in a matter of seconds."

Hiei found he had nothing to say. Well, he did, but anything he said probably would have been seen as an insult, so he chose to stay silent.

"The mere fact that you haven't asked who I'm talking about, tells me you already knew." Hiei still said nothing. "So, you see, I know what it's like to shut yourself off. In fact, I haven't laughed like I did today in a _long_ time." Hiei just stood there, arms crossed and not moving. "It's not so bad, you know. It's okay to feel."

"Hmp."

"Does that mean I'm getting through, or is that just your usual grunt?" He sighed heavily, walking to the couch and sitting without a sound, arms still crossed, staring off into space.

"Okay, then." She figured that was better than him destroying her whole house, or attacking her, so maybe, just maybe, this was a victory.

Maybe she had gotten somewhere.

* * *

It had been hours since their little _chat_, and he still had said nothing - he hadn't even moved on the couch. Arms still crossed, still looking out the window, he just sat there in his brooding pity party.

What was with this guy? Didn't he at least need to pee?

She had managed to find some nature programs on Animal Planet, something about insects killing each other. She thought maybe Hiei would be interested in that, but no, he didn't budge an inch.

Whatever. Let him sulk, she didn't care. Although if this went on much longer, she'd have to resort to drastic measures. Maybe she could dump a whole bag of cheese balls on him. Maybe that would get a reaction.

Her thoughts drifted and she realized he hadn't coughed or sneezed lately. When he laughed, he didn't erupt into a fit, which is what usually happens when you're really sick. What was in that stuff Kurama made, anyway? She flipped open her phone and brought up the text window.

"-hey fox kid seems really better. is that stuff super strong or something?-"

She waited and a few minutes later, her phone beeped back.

'-Hiei is very strong anyway and has a high immune system. Mix that with the medicine and he may be better in just 24 hours.-'

She rolled her eyes - even in text message he was eloquent. She snapped it shut and tossed it on the coffee table, feeling irritated all of a sudden. She huffed and crossed her arms.

Twenty four hours, huh?

A knock at the door finally made Hiei move, though it was just a flinch. She sighed heavily and got up, answering it, seeing Keiko with two carry-out bags in her hands. "Hey, Shizuru. How's everything?"

Shizuru rubbed her forehead. "Enh. I dunno."

"Well, I thought I'd bring you something from Yusuke." She held up the bags. "It's his best stuff, in my opinion."

"Oh, wow, thanks. You didn't have to."

Keiko shrugged. "I wanted to - we both did." She peered in and looked at Hiei on the couch. "So, uh, is everything really okay?"

"No, I'm about to murder her. Now leave so I can get to it," Hiei spat, sarcasm filling his voice.

Keiko looked at Shizuru and the older woman shrugged. "It's fine, you can go if you want. Or did you wanna hang out?"

Keiko shook her head. "Nah, Yusuke is taking me out tonight. Actually _out._ In public." Shizuru's eyes widened. "Yeah," she giggled. "Need time to get ready."

"Oh, of course. What, three hours, at least?" Shizuru teased and both shared a gentle laugh. "Thanks again, hun. I appreciate it."

Keiko nodded and after a hug, she left, Shizuru putting the bags of food on the counter. "Let's see what we have...Oh, man...fried beef and rice? Sweet and spicy pork? Go, Yusuke." She noticed out of the corner of her eye, _someone_ was leaning forward on the couch, to get a better view. She glanced at him and he shot back on the couch, trying to look as if he had never moved at all. "Heh."

She opened the bags fully, letting the _delectable_ scent waft through the apartment. "Mmm, so much food. Dunno if I can eat it all by myself..." she teased.

He scoffed and got up, going instead to the bathroom and after a minute, she heard the toilet flush. "I knew he'd have to pee." He came out and she asked, "Did you wash your hands?" He blinked, turned and went back in. "Ugh, I swear he's gonna learn _something_ before this is over..."

He exited again, looking really annoyed, and came to the food. She could tell he was sniffing it and he seemed to be drawn to the sweet and spicy pork. Of course, that was her favorite. His face was gliding towards it, as if he was gonna fall in and she sighed heavily.

"Oh, here you go." She handed him the bag and he snapped back to reality.

"I didn't - "

"You didn't have to."

After she got some chopsticks and water, they ate in silence, Hiei seeming to enjoy the pork quite well. The beef was pretty good too, so she wasn't too miffed at giving her fave to Hiei.

"I saw it too," he blurted out of nowhere.

"Huh?" She turned to him, mouth full of rice.

"I saw your past in a dream too." He said it very matter-of-factly, no emotion behind it and continued eating.

She blinked a few times and swallowed. "What did you see?"

He stiffened, but recovered, reaching for his water glass and taking a drink. "Just when I assume how you found out that they were dead." He looked at her as if to ask her to tell him how it happened.

"Yeah, I was at home and the phone rang. It was my mom's best friend who told me. My mom had her down as an emergency contact." She stopped when he nodded, his way of telling her he didn't need any more. She took another bite of rice, though it was just autopilot. "You really saw it?"

He grunted. "Yeah."

"Oh."

"Hm." He finished off the box of pork and wiped his face. "Not bad. Seems Yusuke found something relevant to do with his life after all."

Shizuru chuckled. "I guess." She ate the rest of hers and picked both up to throw away.

"I got it," he stated and took both boxes, disposing them in her trash.

"You know where my trash can is?" she asked incredulously.

"Had to do_ something_ to occupy my time," he responded with bland humor. He stifled a yawn and she smiled a little.

"Been a long day," she mused.

"Yeah."

Aaaand awkward silence.

His eyes looked around randomly and she stood up. "I'm gonna take a bath."

"Didn't you already?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

"That was a shower. This is a relaxing bath." She went to the bathroom and he followed. Without a word, he went to her bedroom, pausing only briefly before he opened the door. "Uh, goodnight?" she asked. He said nothing and went inside, shutting the door.

She sighed again and walked inside the bathroom, happy to see the toilet was clean. Running a long candle lit bath, she settled down and let herself drift away.

When she woke up just an hour later, she shivered at the cooler water and got out. Getting dressed in bedding, she decided that maybe she should hit the hay too. It wasn't that late, maybe nine PM, but she was pretty tired. Probably because she hadn't gotten much sleep this weekend.

"Gee, I wonder why," she joked to herself.

Once she was dressed, she found herself outside her bedroom door. She couldn't help it and opened the door to see Hiei, sprawled out on his stomach, blanket sloppily over him, snoring away. She slapped a hand over her mouth to stop a giggle, and walked up to him.

One of his feet was sticking out of the blanket and she just couldn't resist. She ran a finger over his heel and he jerked back, the foot disappearing under the blanket. She laughed inwardly and snuck back out, shutting the door quietly.

She felt lighthearted and at ease as she went to Kazuma's bedroom.

But then she remembered what Kurama said.

_Twenty four hours._

Twenty four hours and she'd be alone again.

Her lightheartedness faded and she found herself wide awake again.

"Crap, what have you done to me, kid?"

~TBC


	8. Too Deep

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH  
Continuity: English Version Anime

Cover Drawn By: GoodEnoughTheOpenDoor

"Talking"

'_Thoughts_'

* * *

Getting Soft

Chapter Eight: Too Deep

X -x-x-x-x- X

He woke up with a bit of a snort and stretched his legs. He sat up, the blanket falling off him and yawned with his arms above his head. How odd that he felt more rested than he ever had before. Perhaps because he knew he wasn't in danger. Although, he always had his guard up, no matter what, so what was different about this?

He sniffed and realized that his nasal passages were clear and he could breathe again, smells coming back to him. One in particular was entering the room - a very sweet smell...warm and inviting. But his thoughts didn't linger on it because he was focusing on the fact that he was doing much better.

He sat on the edge of the bed and concentrated his energy. The slit on his forehead opened and his third eye seemed to be working properly. He lifted his right hand and formed a tiny flame in the palm, grinning as the Jagan tingled with satisfaction. It seemed all was fine, but how could he be sure of that? He felt just like his old self, nothing was bothering him. Yet, a nagging in the back of his mind was telling him...something.

Why was he so hesitant to believe he was well?

That smell came back and he found his feet hitting the floor, moving towards the door and opening it, the scent much stronger now, and leading him to the kitchen. There he saw the woman cooking something and a plate full with some sort of food on the counter. She turned and smiled at him.

Ugh, there was that _feeling_ in his stomach again. What was that? He was sure he was getting better! Perhaps he was jumping the gun. If one small symptom remained, then he couldn't chance it.

Yes, one more night here wouldn't hurt him.

"Hey, I figured these would wake you up." She pointed to the plate on the counter. "Want some?"

He hopped up on the stool and gazed at the food. "What is it?"

"Pancakes. I didn't know if you would like anything so I made those plain. These are blueberry, though." She gestured to the pan on the stove and he grunted. He studied the plate and she chuckled. "You don't know what pancakes are, do you?"

He shrugged, "Not the human version, maybe."

"Demons make pancakes?" She flipped the one cooking and mentally cheered.

He watched her and nodded. "Yeah. But they don't smell like that. Usually, they're made with whatever you have lying around." She flipped it again and he tilted his head.

"Wanna give it a try, tough guy?" She held out the pan and he jumped off the stool, walking over to her. "Okay, hold on to the handle like this." She instructed and he did so, grasping the handle without the potholder. She grimaced but when he didn't react, she shrugged. '_Oh, yeah. __**Fire**__ apparition._' He pulled the pan off the stove and in instinct, due to having many disasters in the kitchen from her brother, she grabbed his hand grasping the handle.

And for a few seconds, it remained like that.

There was that tingling in his core again, but this time it erupted when she touched him, as if his stomach was tossing around inside of him. Could...this feeling be related to her? Total nonsense. His eyes snapped up to her and he could see her starting to sweat.

"Uh..."

"I can handle the weight myself," he stated, and she saw his adam's apple move in a deep swallow. She nodded and let go, the moment over. He stood there thinking it over, and before she could do anything he had flipped the pan up and caught the cake.

She breathed out in relief. "Wow."

"I should have mentioned I've done this before," he stated in a cocky tone, doing it again.

"Oh, wow," she repeated with a chuckle. "Figures."

Soon he had plated the blueberry pancakes and he was sitting with the plain ones in front of him. He had three and she had three. She brought out a large bottle with a deep brown liquid in it and poured it on her pancakes. The liquid was sweeter smelling than the pancakes and he could tell by how it flowed it was thick like molasses. "What is that?"

"Maple syrup. It comes from trees. Want some?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Tree sap? You humans eat tree sap?"

"Just this kind." She held out the bottle and put a tiny drip on his top pancake. "Try it." He dipped his finger in the dripple before the pancake could absorb it, and licked it off. His eyes widened much like a child discovering candy for the first time and she chuckled. "It's horrible, huh? I'll just put it away." He reached out and grabbed the bottle before she could turn away.

"I'll take some." She snickered as he began pouring it on, the stuff just falling all over the defenseless cakes, forming a pool at the bottom of his plate.

She went from amused to annoyed as the plate became a soup of syrup. "You wanna drink straight from the bottle instead?" she asked flatly and he looked up, as if he had just been snapped out of a trance.

"Hmp." He sat the bottle down and she handed him the utensils. She sat next to him as he cut a piece and forked it into his mouth. She watched from under her bangs as his eyes closed slowly and he chewed, a small smile forming on his lips.

And then she noticed her stomach was doing cartwheels.

She blew out some air and jumped back to reality, forking a piece herself. They ate in silence, but she couldn't help sneak a peak every so often at him enjoying the breakfast she had made.

The whole time her insides were flipping and flopping, especially when he started to dip the last piece in the syrup, getting every last drop, savoring the final bite and licking his lips. "Not bad. I hate to say, better than I've had. Perhaps that's because we use entrails."

What lovely conversation. Oh, well. Might as well keep the humor. "What, you don't like liver?"

He looked at her with something dancing in his eyes. "The Oncun birds have very savory livers, but that's about it."

"Yum." She finished her last bite and stood up. "Now the fun part. The dishes." She put everything in the dishwasher and shut the door. "Boy, that was hard. Now the really difficult part - dunno if I can do it." He watched her intently as she pressed a button and heaved a sigh. "Oh, my aching finger."

He cocked an eyebrow and she chuckled. "Now what?" he asked. It went silent and she ran a hand through her hair, which he noticed she did when she was nervous.

Wait. When did he start noticing things about her?

"How about a nice relaxing game of Scrabble? Yeah, that'll pass the time." She chuckled to herself and went to the bathroom. He didn't know what 'Scrabble' was but she didn't seem serious about it so he didn't bother to ask.

While she was bathing, he let his thoughts drift. Whatever medicine Kurama made, it seemed to do the trick He was sure he was getting better, and he was certain that he should leave. He sat on the couch and crossed his arms.

So, why wasn't he?

As she washed her hair she found herself thinking what would happen when he finally left. She'd be back to work, that's what. Her vacation had almost been spent on this and she sighed. Not what she had planned at all.

But as she looked back on it, it hadn't been _that_ bad. She rinsed off and sighed. There was no way in hell that this was happening. What _this_ was, she had no idea, she just knew it wasn't happening. This was just something she would chalk up as a funny thing that happened.

He could leave at any time. There was nothing holding him here. He had no more reason to stay. He was totally free to do as he pleased.

She was happy he'd be gone. She was not attached to him. She was not going to miss him.

He wanted to leave.

She wanted him gone.

He was headed out the door right now.

When she'd come back, he'd be gone.

He was out of here.

And she didn't care.

Gone.

Gone.

_Gone_.

She entered the living room to see him on the couch. She blinked and he turned to her. "Hey." It went dead in the air as they stared at each other. She felt like her heart was going to burst right out of her and swallowed. Why when she saw that spiky hair, did she feel as if she was gonna pass out?

Why didn't he get off the couch and leave? He had every opportunity, without having to explain himself. And why was he staring at her? Why was she staring at him?

What the hell was going on?

"Wanna watch a movie?" Why did she ask that? She knew he'd say no. He was leaving - she could tell he was better. His energy felt normal and his face was healthy, eyes unclouded, color all back to them. He was so gonna say no and just book it out of there.

Her question cut the air like a knife and he scoffed. Suffer more human entertainment? Hell, no. He'd rather cut off his own limbs. But as he opened his mouth, something different came out.

"Not really," she was right, of course, "but if you want to, I won't stop you." Okay, that wasn't an outright denial. Was he staying? She felt a weight lift off her as his words sunk in.

He blinked. Where did that come from? He decided not to dwell on it and turned from her, hearing her inhale. "Okay."

* * *

Her lovely choice of cinema was a war movie of all things. She figured, even though it was still "fake," according to him, it was based on real-life events. It was history, for goodness sake! "Thank God for Netflix," she laughed as she came into the room with a bowl. He still hadn't moved from the couch and eyed the contents in the dish.

"What's that?" he asked.

"The movie's long, so I decided to make a snack. It's popcorn." He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, uh - Just try one. It's kinda weird at first, but you may like it."

He reached for one kernel and popped it in his mouth. Quite a unique flavor, unlike anything he had tasted before.

When he didn't say anything she figured he must like it, so she placed the bowl between them.

The movie was simple enough; WWII, guys shooting, bombs blasting, and flashbacks of the main character's life. He seemed to have no one waiting for him, and a dead older uncle from the war. Typical.

The movie went on without too much excitement and Shizuru found her hand meeting an empty bowl. She chuckled when she looked over at Hiei chewing and swallowing.

"I still don't understand the purpose of this war," he said. "Was it over territory? Or power?" She sighed. The movie didn't explain why the war was happening, for it was common knowledge. It just jumped right into the action and went from there. Anyone who didn't know the history might be confused.

"Honestly, kid, I don't know. Probably both." She really didn't want to get into it, mostly because it was her country that lost and was basically in the wrong. She shook her head and went to get more popcorn.

Humans really _were_ stupid - no wonder Hiei didn't like them.

When she was done, the movie was at another flashback. It was the main guy at his mother's deathbed. She was gasping for life and said nothing as she pushed a photograph into his hand. He looked at it and it was a little baby. He questioned her and she told him it was his sister that she had to give away when he was born. Apparently, she was very poor and could not afford twins, so she sold the girl and kept the boy, because boys were more valuable.

The scene went on but Shizuru wasn't paying attention.

A guy with a long, lost, twin sister.

Were they freaking kidding right now?

Her eyes drifted over to the male on the couch and he wasn't moving. He said nothing and just _watched_ the man cry over his mother dying and looking at the photograph.

And don't ya know, the sister was his only family left?

Shizuru was about to throw her television out the window, but just decided to stop the movie instead. She hit the button and Hiei snapped his head to her. "Why did you do that?"

His voice was surprised and she steadied herself. "This movie's dumb. I don't like it."

"You've invested an hour into it and now you decide not to like it? Just because it isn't entertaining enough? That's what's wrong with you humans; You never finish anything you start." He crossed his arms and almost huffed, hitting the back of the couch.

"What, you like it or something?" He looked at her when she asked.

"I could care less, but my brain cells now have this logged into my memory." In other words; 'Turn it back on, woman.' She chuckled and hit the play button, the movie going back to an intense fire-fight.

He seemed content enough and reached for another handful of popcorn.

She knew that he didn't know that she knew about Yukina. Yes, she told him of the dream, but Yukina was never mentioned in it, and she never confronted him that it was Yukina's energy in that tear-stone he wore. So, in his mind, she didn't know they were related.

It was a good thing because after the huge battle, another flashback came on.

This dude had found his sister, seeing she had been adopted by a rich family and knew nothing of him or her real mother. She was happy and at ease. The man decided to leave her be and not tell her he existed.

Oh. Come. _**ON**_.

It was so ridiculous she almost burst out laughing hysterically, but she held her control and acted as if nothing was wrong at all. He suddenly pushed the bowl away. "You can have the rest," he stated and she sighed.

Yep, it was getting to him.

The movie went on...and on...and _on_...Seriously, how many battles can you have? She was getting bored at the constant spray of bullets and put her feet up on the coffee table.

But then the movie changed dramatically. The man was shot, his limp body falling to the ground. As he fell, images of his sister flashed on the screen of her laughing and hugging her friends.

Shizuru was gonna scream - she really was.

He hit the ground and sputtered blood all over himself, crying out for anyone to help him. But none did. As he lay dying, he reached into his pocket and pulled out - a kazoo? A harmonica? A ham sandwich! No, the photo of his _sister, _of course. He rubbed the picture lovingly and gasped his last breath, saying how sorry he was that he never knew her.

And then he died.

The scene changed. Wind blew in the trees and the girl looked up. Someone asked her what was wrong and she shook her head.

"_I feel like my heart is broken._"

And then it ended.

Yup. Roll credits.

No, seriously - it was over.

Shizuru was a mix of all kinds of things right now, most of them pissed. First, was there a purpose to this freaking, stupid ass movie? Apparently not.

Second, could it have been a worse movie for Hiei to watch? Really, now? Could it?

She braced herself and looked over at him. He was as still as the rest of the furniture in the room and she swallowed.

"Well," she started, "that was really awful. I'm never watching a war movie again." She stopped it right in the middle of the credits and really annoying love song.

He wordlessly got up and just stood there.

Okay, here it was; He was leaving. She finally did it. Bye, bye, Hiei.

He began to walk out of the room and towards her bedroom. "W-Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'm tired," he breathed out and went inside the bedroom, closing the door.

"Tired at three in the afternoon? Yeah, right..." She sat back and reached for a cigarette. "Oh, boy..."

The dream he had of her past was not the first time he had ever cried. It didn't count because it wasn't his past, or his memories. So, because it wasn't his feelings behind it, it didn't count.

But this time it did.

He wiped the wetness off his face and scowled.

This disease had damaged him far more than he thought. Perhaps he was still sick and just needed some rest. Yes, then he could leave once and for all.

He just needed to rest and it would all go away.

* * *

Shizuru was starting to feel that nagging in her stomach again. He had been in there four hours. Fours hours, and no bathroom breaks, no food, no nothing. She knew he was still in the bedroom, because of his energy, so he hadn't left. He couldn't possibly been sleeping all this time. Did the movie really depress him _that _much?

Then it dawned on her; What if he was relapsing? He was supposed to be getting better, not worse! She flipped open her phone and dialed - who else - Kurama.

He answered quickly with a polite, 'Hello, Shizuru.'

"Hey, Hiei is acting strange. He's been asleep all day in my room. Could he be getting worse?"

'I...doubt it. Did he drink all of the medicine I left?'

"Yeah, yesterday."

A pause. 'And he isn't better?'

"Well, he seemed to be, but then he went to sleep after we watched this movie...It was depressing but I don't think it would make him this sad..."

'A movie?'

She sighed heavily. "Okay, don't kill me. It was this really lame war movie and the guy in it had a long lost twin sister who he didn't reveal himself to and then he died looking at her picture. Yeah, okay, I know..." It went silent on the other end Shizuru was worried Kurama was mad. Or maybe he was stifling a fit of laughter.

'I see,' he finally replied. 'Just keep a close watch on him and if he shows symptoms again, call me and I'll make some more medicine.'

"Okay..." She heard a voice call for Kurama and chuckled. "They don't leave you alone, do they?" Kurama made a noise and she shook her head. "Yeah, okay. Later." She flipped her phone off and placed it on the coffee table.

She sat in silence for a minute, thinking it all over. A close watch, huh? Well, Kurama said it, not her. She was gonna bite the bullet and cross enemy lines. She may not make it out alive.

She hated war movies.

She approached her bedroom door and opened it slowly, seeing he was in her bed, laying on his left side away from her. The sheets and blue blanket she had given him were covering him almost completely, his hair the only thing showing. She stepped in and crept to her bed, eventually being right in front of him.

His eyes were closed and he was breathing slowly. He opened them and looked up at her. "Hey..." she soothed in a soft tone she didn't know she had. "You okay?" He grunted and shut them again, burrowing further into the covers. She pulled the blanket down off his face and ran a hand through his bangs.

He did nothing from her actions and that made her worry more. If this wasn't because of the movie, then why was he behaving this way? She bit her bottom lip and began moving to the other side of the bed.

She wasn't thinking as she reached the sheets, pulling them away and sliding in the bed next to him. Not a single thing went through her head as she scooted to him and did something she had never done with another man.

She spooned him.

He went tense and grunted again. "What - "

"I don't know, okay? Just shut up." He struggled in her grasp but after a minute, he relaxed and soon she did the same. She had no idea what she was doing. Maybe she was apologizing for making him watch that movie. Maybe she was trying to comfort him.

Maybe she didn't want to let him go.

She pushed that last thought away and closed her eyes, letting his scent breathe into her. It was like...a forest on a rainy day, mixed with the smoky taste of a bonfire. She found herself daydreaming of being in a forest, cooking s'mores in a rainstorm.

When she opened her eyes again, she was shocked that the room was darker. She took a few seconds to register that she was on her back and had moved in her sleep. She went to look over at the clock when she realized there was weight on her.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one who had moved.

He was draped over her midsection, his head on her chest, breathing slowly. She blinked as her eyes focused in the darkness, seeing his sleeping face. "Hiei?" He didn't react and she knew he must really be out.

She watched him for a few minutes, feeling this building sensation inside her as he breathed. She lifted her right hand and traced his cheek, down to his jawline. She rubbed his surprisingly soft skin for a few seconds, and he moved - a sharp inhale followed by a twitch.

She froze and prepared herself for him to wake up - to berate her and run away.

But instead, he relaxed and snuggled further into her, a slight moan escaping him as he exhaled.

And that was it.

The feeling in her stomach exploded and she knew she was screwed. When it happened - she didn't know - but someway, somehow it did. Whether it was romantic or platonic - or maybe some sense of family - it didn't matter...

She had fallen for the little creature in her arms, and there was no going back.

* * *

When she woke again, she saw it was lighter in the room, and she stretched - and immediately shocked herself awake, sitting up.

He was gone - and not just from the bed; he was gone from the whole apartment. His energy was nowhere to be found. She panted and stood up.

He was gone. He left.

_'He's gone.'_

She walked over to the dresser seeing something shimmering and picked it up. It was Yukina's tear-gem and under it was a piece of paper. She read it and found herself frowning.

"_Your assistance was appreciated,_" was all it said.

What? That's it? He couldn't even say 'thank you,' he had to dance around it like a punk? '_My __**assistance**__?'_

She wanted to scream - to throw something, but instead she just stood there, blinking and reading it over and over.

She grasped the necklace. What was this - payment? Was he_ paying_ for her help? Then again, Yukina was important to him and he wouldn't just leave that necklace without a good reason.

She sighed and shook her head. "Damn you, Hiei..." The hurt she was trying to avoid crept on her, engulfing her. "_Damn_ you..."

~TBC


	9. Gone Soft

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH  
Continuity: English Version Anime

Cover Drawn By: GoodEnoughTheOpenDoor

"Talking"

'_Thoughts_'

* * *

Getting Soft

Chapter Nine: Gone Soft

X -x-x-x-x- X

She immediately ripped the sheets of the bed and tossed them in the wash. After those were done, she would do the colored clothing and blue blanket. She noticed he had folded up the clothes she let him borrow and placed them on the bathroom floor. How _polite_.

Next she threw herself into a frenzy of disinfecting the whole place. Everything got dusted and windexed and bleached. She even washed the floors by hand. She found herself cleaning spaces that he didn't even touch - places that she hadn't cleaned since she moved there. And it showed, too.

Hours went by for her siege and she thought of nothing else as she did. Yes, she knew that she was doing this to hide from what had happened - to distract herself. That reality came crashing down as she finished with a loud sigh, falling on the couch.

She let the whole thing sink in. True, nothing too special had happened, but somehow in the short amount of time he was there, he had become important to her. She shook her head and played with the tear-stone he had left.

Why would he leave this? That question came back over and over.

Well, it didn't matter because now she knew what she had to do. This thing didn't belong to her, and if he didn't want it anymore, then she had no other choice.

She had to return it to the original owner. Her washing machine beeped and she groaned.

Right after all the hours of laundry.

* * *

She wasn't sure if she would be welcomed so late, but that stupid old machine took _forever_. She even had time to clean out her and Kazuma's closets. Extra grossness on her brother's - she managed to find a half eaten ding-dong in there!

She shuddered and moaned. God, she hated this walk. As she neared the top, she could see Yukina watering flowers. The ice-maiden turned and grinned, happy to see her again. "Oh, Shizuru! Back so soon?"

"Yeah. Uh, you know that Hiei was staying with me, right?" She asked as she came to her. The smaller girl nodded, a sad smile on her lips. "Well, he left this behind." Shizuru showed the tear-gem in her hand and Yukina gasped. "I know it's yours because I sense its energy."

"Oh. He left it?" Shizuru nodded. "I see." She looked away, appearing deep in thought. Shizuru could see her thinking it over, that same sad expression on her features. "Well, then it's yours," she finally stated.

"W-What?" Shizuru stuttered, taken aback.

Yukina smiled a little, looking less sad. "When I gave it to Hiei, it no longer belonged to me - it became his. If he wishes to give it to you, that is his choice."

Shizuru held it out. "But it's _yours_."

Yukina shook her head. "Not anymore. I wanted Hiei to have it. He apparently wants you to have it. If that is his wish, I respect that." Shizuru pulled her hand back. "Perhaps it will do you some good. Or maybe if you wish to give it to someone, it will do them good. Either way, I'm glad that it can." She giggled softly and went back to the entrance. "Do you want to come inside?"

Shizuru shook her head. "Nah. I'm gonna go down to the beach. I'll talk to you later." She turned and paused. "And thanks."

"Don't thank me. Thank Hiei." Yukina went inside and Shizuru scoffed.

"Yeah, right."

When she made it to the beach the sun was setting, creating a beautiful array of colors. She took out her pack and lit a cigarette, relishing the taste as the smell burned all around her. She sat on a log, drawing in long drags. She knew she'd have to walk back soon and figured she'd at least enjoy this for a while.

She had spent all day avoiding her thoughts but now that she was alone, she had no choice. She put out her butt and pulled out the necklace again. It was very pretty and gazing at it brought a certain calmness to her. It also brought back that dream. She sighed. She knew Hiei was how he was because of his hard life. She could always tell he was that type of person; a person with deep pain and loneliness. If only he would let someone in...

She put the necklace around her neck and chuckled as she realized she wasn't alone. "What brings you here?"

"I haven't been here in a while. Genkai asked my help on her garden, and I would've been here sooner if I didn't have a life." He chuckled as his red hair flipped in the wind.

"You have a life? I need to get one of those. I hear they're really awesome," she joked pulling out another stick to smoke. He stepped closer and eyed the jewel she was wearing. She looked at him staring and looked down at it. "Yeah, Hiei left it behind."

"I see," was all he said.

"Why would he do that?" Her question hung in the air as the two of them watched the sun set.

"He has his reasons. I've said it before, he is a puzzle. In all my years, I haven't met a soul like his. Even I can't figure him out entirely."

"Must be frustrating; A puzzle that the great Kurama can't solve." She laughed at his face.

He shook his head and chuckled a bit. "I suppose. Trust me, he had a reason for leaving that behind." He tilted his head. "Are you alright?"

After a pregnant pause, she answered, "No." The wind blew and she clenched her fists. "Dammit, why do I care? He wasn't even there for that long. Not even a week. I hate this..." She looked up at Kurama chucking again and shot him a glare.

"Sorry. That's another piece of the puzzle I can't figure out."

"What?"

"The effect he has on people. He is the cruelest, rudest, most snide person I know and yet almost everyone he comes across gets attached to him somehow. Even I am not immune to it. Maybe we can all sense that he needs us, in a way."

She stood up and laughed. "Maybe. Or maybe I've just gone soft." She watched the waves and Kurama zipped up his jacket.

"Walk you back?" he offered.

Why couldn't it had been Kurama that had gotten sick for her to care over? That would've been much more fun. She bit back a laugh and nodded "Yeah, sure."

* * *

"You've been gone a while. What happened?" her brash voice asked as he entered her chambers.

"I was detained," he simply answered.

"Hm, I see." Mukuro stared down her most trusted demon and he looked up at her.

"I need my stone back," he said plainly.

She paused and was going to ask why, but stopped herself knowing she had no right. She pulled it off her and handed it to him. "Any particular reason why?" she asked as he took it, putting a hand in his pocket and turning away.

He kept walking away from her and as he reached the door, he snorted in what appeared to be amusement. "I don't know. Perhaps I've gone soft."

* * *

After she had replaced her linens and took a long, relaxing bath, she found herself snuggling on her fresh pillows in _her_ bed. Man, it was nice to finally get this back! She was so exhausted and soon drifted into a peaceful slumber, clutching the tear-stone in her hand.

But do you know the feeling when you're not quite asleep but not quite awake? Drifting in between the two, aware of being asleep as well as being awake? She was in that place as she heard something click and slide in her bedroom.

She heard shoes hit the wooden floor and stand for a minute before coming closer in agonizingly slow steps. Soon a presence was next to her and she found herself wanting to wake up, but she couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, she could not open her eyes or fully come back to consciousness. Her hand gripping the gem was pried open and the stone taken away.

'**I knew you knew this was Yukina's**,' a low baritone voice soothed in her head. '**I'm glad you showed it to her. She'll think you have it.**' She felt another gem enter her palm and warm fingers clasp hers shut. She instantly knew as she felt the energy course through her; It was _his_ tear-stone. '**And as long as you don't say anything, she'll never know the difference.**'

Now she really wanted to be awake, but try as she might, she still couldn't! It felt as if something was _forcing_ her to stay unconscious.

Oh, duh. Bastard. He was _keeping_ her asleep!

She heard a low chuckle emanate from his throat. Ooh, she just wanted to strangle him! Why didn't he have the balls to face her for real? She heard him shift his feet on the floor, and felt her stomach drop.

'_No, don't leave._..' she thought as clear as she could. His feet shifted back and it reamined silent for a while, her wondering if he was just gonna watch her sleep.

He moved again and fingers ran themselves through her bangs, pulling them aside from her face. A warm, soft pressure was placed on her cheek, staying for a second before pulling away.

"Thank you," she heard audibly whispered, his breath on her skin sending a shiver through her.

She heard his boots scuffle on the floor and the window slide open again, and soon his energy was gone. The wind blew in from the open window caressing her, bringing a calm like no other to her as she clutched the new stone in her hand.

She felt him retreat away and in her sleep state she smiled, knowing it wasn't the last time she'd ever feel that energy again.

But then another sensation started to happen. It was in the back of her sinuses and started small, building second after second soon erupting into an enormous itch that overpowered her breathing. Her breath hitched a few times and she was shot awake sitting up, the feeling overtaking her. "_Huh..._" It lingered, her face frozen in torture as she waited, soon rewarded by a huge explosion.

"_IKISHUUUU!_" She openly sneezed into the room and sniffed back, suddenly feeling congested and realizing only then her throat had a funny feeling developing in it. She groaned as her head started throbbing and another tickle came on. "Oh, no..._heh...hih...ACKAHSHUU!_" Sniff. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU, HIEI!"

She swore she could hear his laughter echo in the distance.

~End

* * *

**A/N: TRIVIA! **

**Did you know that Hiei and Shizuru never speak to each other once in the series? Nope, not once. The closest is him reacting to Shizuru making fun of Kuwabara in the semi-finals and Hiei saying he'd like to hear more. That comment isn't aimed directly at her, but it is in response. Also, the only time they truly come face to face is in Nightmare Hakusho, in Yusuke's dream. But it's a dream so it doesn't count. So, if my fic is to be believed, this is the first time they've ever talked! Yay!**

**Thank you all for your kind support, it means so much to me. This is my first big work in a LONG time and I'm glad that it was taken well. I love you all that reviewed and faved and followed! -throws Hiei plushies at you- THANK YOU! AND THANK FOR FOR MY FIRST TRIPLE! XDDDDD**

**I've also edited the chaps to make them look more pretty and took out the old A/N's. **

**I might be back with more chappie fics after a few so keep an eye out.**

**Thankies!**

**-Vhee**


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